


Power Vacuum

by otherrealmwriter



Category: Invader Zim
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-13
Updated: 2020-10-28
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:48:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 30,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26997730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/otherrealmwriter/pseuds/otherrealmwriter
Summary: In the chaos after The Massive is brought down, Red and Purple escape, only to crash into Earth. However the Resisty finds a new power in the Universe they must try and fight and Meekrob uses this collapse to try and take over Irk. Will the Tallest get back their power and what will become of the Empire?
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter 1

I don't own Invader Zim okay? I would like to thank Invader Johnny for help with the idea to get this off the ground. He helped me come up with some of the elements that got this going. I have always been curious about what would happen to the Irken Empire after the Massive was brought down in Dib's Wonderful Life of Doom. And yes I know that was virtual reality playback but come on, this is fanfiction. Anyway enough of this A/N, on with the fic!

"We've got to get out of here!" Tallest Red said as he floated along the hallways of the collapsing Massive.

"Wait up Red!" Tallest Purple said behind him.

"This is going down! We need to get out of here now!" Red yelled as he opened the door to the escape pod. He pushed several of the navigation crew out of the way as he dove inside.

"But... but... but... the donuts!" Purple floated around panicking.

"Miyuki damn it, this is not the time for that! If we are going to live through this, you are going to have to get in here! The Empire is not going to like this one bit!" Red yelled.

"But Red," Purple said, "Where will we go?"

"Somewhere. Now do you want to live or die in a horrible explosion?" Red said as Purple joined him in the escape pod and shut the door.

"Sirs!" The chief engineer said as he stared at his Tallest fleeing in front of him. "What are we to do?"

"Get the fuck out of here! You heard the stories of what the humans did to the Greys who crashed on their planet!" Red said.

"But why won't you let me or some of the naviagation crew in the pod? There's room for a few more, even with you in there my Tallest!" The engineer said.

"Because I said so!" Red said as he hit the detach button and drifted away, staring at the capitol ship of the Irken Armada as it crashed towards Earth. So this is it, the whole of Operation Impeding Doom II and maybe all of the Irken Empire brought down by a genetically modified pig smelly. Red thought as he watched the ship crash onto the planet.

"You know, we might get our revenge." Purple said as he looked out the porthole. "It wasn't called The Massive for nothing." He said as he opened a bag of emergency snacks.

"No. Last thing I did was turn on its Shrinky Self Destruct." Red said as he hit his head on the edges of the escape pod.

"That was dumb. You could have destroyed them and maybe the Control Brains won't hold us accountable for starting this operation, going to Zim's planet after we conqured the rest of the planets on the list and destroyed them for destroying us." Purple said looking at the blue orb.

"You don't think that I don't know that already?" Red said looking at his Co-Tallest.

"No." Purple said genuinelly.

"Well since you like playing the blame game, YOU were the one who suggested we go to Earth! I wanted to leave it alone. I mean we hadn't heard from Zim in years. I was happy for that peace and quiet. But NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO you wanted to find out what happened to Zim of all the Miyuki forsaken Irkens out there!" Red said as he reached out to strangle Purple. Purple saw the intent in Red's rage filled eyes and jumped out of the way, throwing his snacks in Red's face. "If it is anyone's fault, IT IS YOURS!" He said as he made a fist and punched Purple in the face.

"You want to fight about it?" Purple said as he took ahold of Red's arm and spun him around, causing him to hit the wall of the escape pod.

"Yes I do! If I am going to be blamed for the collaspe of the Empire, I want to take you down with me!" Red said as he then grabbed Purple and threw him opposite him across the escape pod, hitting a monitor.

"Watch where you're fighting!" Purple said rubbing his shoulders. "You just destroyed the machine that monitors our snack supply.

"You won't need snacks where you are going!" Red said.

Meanwhile from a safe distance away, Lord Nar and the reminants of the Resisty were looking on with astonishment. The humans did what they could not. They toppled the Massive. They had been following the Irken fleet for years, with many of their number just defecting and settling into whatever role Irk had for their home planets leaving them to their own devices. Lord Nar had sworn to bring Irk down even if it killed him for what they did to Vort and his fellow Vortians and he was beginning to lose hope. Maybe we should open up talks with those humans. Although to be fair, I had never seen a human do what that pointy haired one did. Lord Nar thought as Irken ships sped past his, not even noticing one of the last Vort ships in the Universe. He turned to see two Meekrob floating in front of him. "Woah! What do you want! Last I checked you Meekrob wanted nothing to do with us, even though you had the same problem."

"Because you were fools thinking you could take the Irkens on. You can thank us for this victory." Chowfun, a Meekrob being said.

"You didn't do squat!" Lord Nar said. "It was the humans."

"We found the one who was watching the Irkens and gave him our powers." Lomein, the second Meekrob said.

"I knew something wasn't right." Lord Nar said.

"Yes. Now that we got that human to do our work, we can fill the void that is being left by the Irken Empire as we speak." Chowfun said.

"Yes, now that the Irkens are defeated we can- WHAT?!" Lord Nar yelled as he pulled a laser gun to fire at them.

"Yes. Now we can go take Irk and all the planets they conqured." Chowfun said as he disappeared into the void.

"No you won't!" Lord Nar said as he fired at the space the Meekrob had left wildly. "I fought too damn hard to let you guys just take Irk's spot." He looked up to find that the Meekrob were gone. Sighing, he sat down and looked around hopelessly. Most of the Resisty was gone and they were too fatigued from trying to defeat the Irkens to move onto another race that was going to rule their planets. This was not going to go over well. The Resisty was made up of civilians. He was a military scientist himself so he was used to warfare and life the military could bring but most of the few that were left would not be ready for what was going to need to be done. As much as he hated to admit it, the Irkens were the only other race that could keep the Meekrob in check. They were beings of pure energy after all. Sure, the Vortians developed the technology so Irk could do so, but they didn't have the rugged structure that Irk had in their culture that made them a civilization that could withstand warfare. The fact the Massive was defeated would not have been enough to topple the civilization, but the fact it was humans who did it would. They were inferior. They couldn't even travel the speed of light, let alone exploit black holes to cross thousands of light years in a realatively short amount of time. This would cause a loss of power in the eyes of the other races, making the Irkens volnerable

At the same time, Red and Purple were still fighting in their escape pod over whose fault it was. Insults going back to their time before they were made the Tallest can when Red jumped at Purple grabbing his snacks and shooting them out the airlock. This was the final straw. Purple could take the causual and sometimes harsh insults Red made towards his intelligence, how he was seen as the foolish leader and Red was the one who was really in charge of the Irken Empire but this act of him launching his favorite emergency snacks out into the void of space made Purple curl up his fist and hit Red right in the head, causing him to fall back and crush the navaigation ports.

"HA!" Purple said. "Who's the weakling now."

"Still you!" Red said when a siren rang through the pod.

"APPROACHING EARTH ORBIT. WE CANNOT PULL AWAY! INITIATING CRASH PROCEDURES! BRACE FOR IMPACT!" The alarm said as Purple sat down in one of the seats and began to buckle himself in and go limp.

"What are you doing?" Red asked.

"Didn't you hear the alarm?" Purple said. "I want to be able to get away! I don't want to be on a planet filled with water with no paste and a race of beings who want to cut us open and study us!"

"Oh come on!" Red said as flames appeared outside the ship. He looked over the his shoulder to see the inferno and began to take after Purple's example. "You may be right..."

"Let's just hope we crash in a desert. They don't have a lot of water." Purple said looking up from his limp position.

"I sure hope we do!" Red said as the ship crashed into the middle of the Mojave desert in a barren waste land. He then was thrown from the porthole of the escape pod at high speed into the hot sands and rocky terrain.

Chowfun and Lomein looked on at the reddish pink planet. This was their chance. The Massive was destroyed and the military was in chaos. Irk was ripe for Meekrob's taking. They just had to get to the control brains in the center of the planet who ran all the legal affairs and get them to make a treaty with the Meekrob Empire. "This is for our Grand Ruler. Irk will be ours." Chowfun said as he teleported himself to the planet's surface followed by Lomein.

"And we will be the ulitmate power in the galaxy." Lomein said. "Now, where do they keep the Control Brains?"

So how was that? I know it was shorter than my normal chapter lengths but this is just the opening. Chowfun and Lomein are the names of Chinese food dishes and since Meekrob is the name of a Thai dish I named them after Asian foods. They make appearances in my older works of Tak's Deadly Return, DIB: Dib in Black and mentioned in Tak's Deadly Vengance. And they are modified a little bit, but they are all high ranking Meekrob. But the collapse of the Irken Armada's capitol ship will weaken their military, leave a massive power vaccum in the galaxy and cause all sorts of strife. But this is just the introduction chapter. So remember to read (well you just did) and to review. Ciao for now,

otherrealmwriter

aka

Realm


	2. Chapter 2

I do not own Invader Zim okay? I am going to try and get as much as I can done here but whatever, I am pretty much free from work for awhile, so I will be working on school and all that stuff but still have a bit of time. Anyway, enough of this A/N, on with the fic!

Purple crawled from the wreckage and looked on as the escape pod burned. They had crashed in a desert, like he had hoped. But this was still Earth. They were in the lion's den and he knew they had to play it cool to try and get back to Irk. The people were not going to be pleased by this recent development of a race of pig smelly morons taking down the capitol ship of the Armada but that would be handled later. Executions usually solved this and kept the Tallest in power. How they were going to explain this to the Control Brains was another matter, but the Vortians did design most of the Massive, so Purple thought about passing the blame onto them and then destroying each and every one they could find afterwards. "Well, here we are, in the belly of the beast Red, I hope you're happy!" Purple yelled as he turned to see the crashed escape pod. "Red?" He asked as he moved closer to the pod, now aflame.

"Over... here... you... you..." Red panted.

"What?" Purple said as he floated over to Red's injured form. "What happened?"

"Ugggghhh... gravity hurts..." Red smirked with a wince. Even with grave wounds, a broken spine and road rash he had to maintain his superiority over Purple. He was the better Tallest after all, even if they were the same height.

"You sure don't look fine." Purple said as he lifted Red up. "Now let's find a place to hide. Looks like we can use on of the rock formations around here..." He turned to find a group of people gathered around as the shrinking Massive crashing into the ground, causing his beloved snacks fly all over the place and be taken by the people applauding that pointy haired human.

"Those mindless drones." Red scoweled. "That was our ship. They got lucky. If I had it my way, we'd have wiped every dumbass pig-smelly off this forsaken rock. UGH!" Red said as he grabbed his injured arm.

"We'd really better hide, this is the worst spot we could be in." Purple said. As a gust of wind was about to overcome the crowd, Purple saw that Dib had kicked it into submission carelessly. "I hate that freak so much now." He then floated off to a nearby cavern that seemed to give them enough room to hide until nightfall.

"Ugggghhhh... This is so hot, I think they boobytrapped their sun some how." Red said as he wiped the sweat from his brow wincing again. Every movement was agony from the damage he susutained upon impact.

"We'll find a place to rest until it gets dark. There's only 1 sun for this planet so we don't have to worry about it getting any brighter." Purple said as he lay Red down in the shade.

"You may not be as big an idiot as I thought" Red said.

"One of us had to be ready for this contigency." Purple said as he stood guard by the edge of the cave.

"Well, if they see us, how are you going to protect us?" Red gasped in pain.

"I smuggled a laser gun out. As long as that big headed human who destoryed the ship in the first place doesn't come by, we should be safe." Purple said.

"Good." Red said as he fell asleep.

He must me more injured than he let on. Purple thought. Irkens didn't need to sleep much at all, the PAKs provided all the energy they would need and sleep was done more for fun than necsssity. But if one was badly injured or sick, they would sleep. And without immediate medical treatment, the PAK would not be able to heal Red's wounds and it would detach itself and he would die. Sure, this may have happened because Red wanted to spread the influence of the Irken Empire, but he didn't deserve that. Purple cared about his co-Tallest. You don't spend years making such important decisions that the lives of millions, maybe even billions were in your claws without having some sort of affinty and concern for your co-ruler. They were trained since they were smeets for this role and it was theirs until someone became taller than them. As the sun began to set on the Mojave and the night came over, Purple looked over at Red. He was still asleep and twitched a little, his claws moving up and down. Sighing, Purple turned back to the sky and stared up at the stars. "Big Dipper... Polaris, they have lousy drinks there. The snacks are terrible... Andromeda Galaxy, what happens in Andromeda stays in Andromeda... and over there, he said pointing over to the constellation of Taurus, home, Irk. I wonder what they are doing now." Purple said as he picked up a stick and began to write some notes in Irken in the sands, trying to figure a plan to get back. "Go away," he said shooing a scorpion from Red.

Meanwhile on Foodcourtia, Sizz-lorr was mopping up after Gashloog had left on his break. One of the customers had spilled a deep fried mooshinky into the drink and onto the floor crying before puking on it. I wish we knew what happened to Zim, he should be doing this on his break. Not me. Sizz-lorr thought as Gashloog came running in from outside. "Sizz-lorr sir, you won't believe the rumors! It's weird as can be! I don't believe it myself! Where is the INN when you need it?"

"INN?" Sizz-lorr asked, not picking up on what Gashloog was saying.

"Irken News Network! The rumors from the customers are that some human on Earth brought down the Massive and there has been no word for the Tallest yet!" Gashloog said when Sizz-lorr put his hand over his mouth. "hmmph?" He tried to ask.

"Back room with me. Now." Sizz-lorr said. He was a Fry Lord and one of the higher ups in Irken society as he helped to provide all the fried goodness that the Irkens and other races that they ruled loved. He pretty much lived on Foodcourtia as he had to run Shloogorgoh's but on important matters he would be called back to Irk to oversee food related issues. He oversaw the feasts of a million snacks when Spork and Red and Purple were coronated as Tallests. He was given this posistion by Miyuki herself before she was killed. To find that rumors of the Massive being destroyed and Red and Purple missing was something he knew that could not be allowed to leak out. He had heard nothing from the control brains yet so he wasn't going to let this get out and cause chaos.

"What is it Sizz-lorr sir?" Gashloog said looking up at his fiersome boss with geuniune confusion and worry.

"Look, what you heard is just a rumor and until we hear better, that's all it is. A rumor." Sizz-lorr said.

"But who would start a rumor that shocking?" Gashloog said. "It's ridiculous! It's impossible."

"Improbable. Not impossible." Sizz-lorr corrected. "Operation Impending Doom II had conqured every planet on the list except for one. Earth."

"Isn't that where Zim is?" Gashloog asked.

"Yes. He was exiled there to try and get rid of him. Something big must have happened to make the Armada go out there to that jungle of primative creatures. Everyone here in the Irken Empire know his mission's a farce except for him. So for the Tallest and the Armada to go there means something big happened. And if it goes down, they were taken down by an inferior species. Humans can't fly past their moon. They're idiots! So to have our mighty empire taken down by humans is something that could destroy it all. And you don't joke about." Sizz-lorr said. "You'll scare people and cause chaos. We don't need that."

"Gotcha boss. I won't mention it again." Gashloog said.

"Good. Now get back to work. I have to go do inventory. We're almost out of Vort Dogs. Can't keep them in stock recently. Lots of the few Vortians left have been coming here and ordering them." Sizz-lorr said as he headed to the back to count his supplies.

Lord Nar took one of his last Vort Dogs from the last run to Shloogorgoh's he had made before he had followed The Massive as far as he did. The alien weiners were delicious and he savored the taste but it had been a long time since he had first bought them. Now he was going to have to explain to his crew that the victory they thought they would have gotten by the fall of the Massive was leading to another war. Only this time it would be with the Meekrob. Irkens were the only ones who could take them on and stand a chance. A hodgepodge of rebels from the conqured planets would stand no chance. And if the Meekrob took Irk, they'd hold onto the Empire and use it for themselves. All this was for nothing. A failure. They never really deposed Irk, they just were along for the ride while the Meekrob used a human to do it. Cowards, can't even do their own dirty work, genetically modify a human and get them to do it. I am sure there is some cosmic planning and 5 steps ahead bullshit but still. That is not how Irk was suppsoed to go down! I was supposed to do it! I wanted to set Vort free! Lord Nar said as he looked at his last bite of his Vort Dog and threw it across the ship. Hopelessness flooded him. Doomed to be a gurella fighter forever against more powerful enemies that would just oppress him and his people and would never be able to go home and rest in peace. He stared at the void of space with a blink. "Where do we go from here?"

So how was that? Good? Bad? Short? Let me know in a review. I set desert as the Mojave because of Area 51 in Nevada and think it could be used for an impromptu headquarters to fight aliens if you knew what you were doing. Ah, but I am rambling there. I am working a lot of Taboo and Minutes to Midnight as well as this because I want to finish those by the end of this year but this will be worked on as well. Well remember to read (well you just did) and to review. Ciao for now,

otherrealmwriter

aka

Realm


	3. Chapter 3

I do not own Invader Zim okay? I don't have much to say here but I figured I would work on some of my other stories. And the beginning of this chapter ties pretty much in with my oneshot Victory or Defeat if you would like to read it. But you don't need to read that to get this fic. But enough of this A/N, on with the fic!

Zim sat in his isolation tube with a smirk on his face. He knew from his latest exchange with Dib that despite Dib indeed bringing down The Massive and in an essence, disrupting his people's empire, there was bigger issues that were about to befall him. What, he really didn't know but he didn't care. It seemed like the whole mission was just an overcompensation for his childhood. But it was obvious the Meekrob had given him the powers to do so. So, they are playing this game too. I knew from those sparks coming from his hands that they were involved somehow. Zim had been sitting in the isolation chamber for nearly 20 years and while Dib was not so cruel to leave him with nothing to do, he did just toss Zim old magazines and taunt him when he was bored. Zim felt a beep on the back of his PAK and pressed it, ignoring the signal. "There was no way that was what I thought it was."

Meanwhile Purple looked at his wrist communicator and yelled in rage. "Why doesn't Zim answer when you need him to?"

"Are you sure he's even still alive?" Red moaned sitting up looking at the night sky.

"What do you mean?" Purple asked.

"We haven't heard from him in a long time. Last count was about 20 of Earth's years." Red said as he winced in pain. "We couldn't keep him OFF the comms line before."

"Well, there's nothing saying his PAK's been deactivated from what I can find," Purple stated. Maybe that should have been a warning sign of something. Purple thought as Red fell back asleep.

Lightyears away, Chowfun and Lomein were looking over Tallest Tower and the capitol of Irk, Zennithapex. This was it, the military was in chaos and they had the chance to take the Control brains to have them surrender the Irken Empire to Meekrob. The Tallests were the ones who made decisions for the Empire, but the Control Brains were the ones who judged their decisions and either made up their minds or changed them. It was designed as a sort of check and balance system that was hardly used. But when the Tallest was killed, then they were the ones who ruled while the new Tallests were being searched for. Sometimes there were heirs to the line being groomed already, as Spork, Red and Purple were but Red and Purple were the last of the groomed ones. Miyuki wanted a Tallest to be ready to take over to help ease the transition when a ruler died. However, with the rapid succession from Miyuki, to Spork to Red and Purple, there was no time for the new generation to be cultivated as soon as they were coroneted, Red and Purple started the Operation Impending Doom series to help expand the Empire after dusting off some of Spork and Miyuki's old plans. They had assumed with Zim being transfered, that would be the end of rapid Tallest killings. Chowfun looked over at Lomein who seemed pensive.

"What is the matter Lomein?" Chowfun asked.

"Are you sure just the two of us can take the entire planet of Irk?" Lomein asked.

"What are you thinking?" Chowfun said starting to glow red.

"Maybe we need to keep that human on reserve for our needs." Lomein said. "If him bringing down the Massive was enough to shake the Empire, then using him here will make it ours in a microsecond."

Chowfun pondered this. The Control Brains would have to analyze every Irken in the Empire and that would be billions of Irkens being analyzed for height and qualifications. There were tie breaker rules put in place if more than 1 Irken was taller than the others. This came to based on what industry the Irken was assigned to. The Military was ranked highest, followed by fast food and scientists tied for second. It was actually an anomaly before the present time that there were two Tallest, but they both qualified equally in all aspects so they were accepted. However, if another Tallest were appointed, it wouldn't be so easy as to manipulate the brains. Having Dib in reserve as their weapon would save many Meekrob lives. "You have a point Lomein." Chowfun said. "Let's congratulate our human on his victory."

Dib was laying back with his girlfriend staring at the wall while she slept. This was the best day of his life and everyone now knew he was right. It was HIM who saved humanity, not anyone else. And he was getting attention from girls, something he never thought he would ever happen. It was this moment that the Meekrob appeared in front of him. "AHHHHHHH!" Dib yelled as he jumped back, pulling the blanket over him. "What are you doing here?"

"Relax Dib, we are here to congratulate you on your victory." Lomein said.

"You could of..." Dib stammered... "Picked a better time, you can see I am uhhhhh... in a compromising position."

"You finished coitus with your mate. It's natural for humans to do." Chowfun said.

"Yeah but we don't put it that way." Dib said. "And I don't want to wake her up and have to explain whatever this is."

"No worries, she's been put into a deep sleep while we have this conversation. She will not be aware this even happened. "The first part of our plan has been completed. However you may need to be summoned to our side if the second part fails."

"What do you mean?" Dib said. He was under the impression that 20 years earlier they gave him the powers to save Earth. "You didn't tell me about any catches last time you appeared."

"We were waiting for phase 1 to be completed. As beings of pure energy, we can wait eternally for something to happen. And other race's measurements of time is not the same as Earth's." Lomein explained.

"Your defeat of The Massive was quite the blow to the Irken Empire. No one knows where the Tallest are, but they are presumed dead. Irk is in total disarray without a real leader. The Empire is ready for Meekrob's taking. However if a Tallest is picked, they will probably declare war on us. Your powers have not gone unnoticed. Word travels quickly in space." Chowfun explained adding on to what Lomein said.

"And? Why the fuck should I care about Irk? And I thought you just wanted me to keep Earth safe." Dib asked.

"Silly human, you think we'd give you that power for nothing, out of the goodwill of our hearts?" Chowfun laughed. "When you are a planet of unevolved and highly stupid idiotic violent beings to the rest of the Universe? It would be like if you gave a machine gun to a lion to save Africa. No, we may call on you to do our bidding in Irk if our plan fails."

Dib looked down astonished and felt ashamed of what he heard along with being highly insulted. "Fuck no. Get the hell out of here. I did what I needed to, I keep Earth safe, and Earth safe only. You go play with your power vacuum out on Irk, but my job is done. Take the powers back if you are so mad at me for saying this, but I am done!"

"We'll call on you when and if you are ever needed. Sleep well." Lomein said simply as Dib fell back asleep.

Lord Nar looked over at Earth, pondering his next move. He saw almost no way out of Vort being subjugated by someone. It was either Meekrob or Irk and both were equally as ruthless when it came to the people they had conquered. He turned to find his loyal but somewhat clueless comrade, Shloonktapooxis looking at him. "You know, maybe the Tallest survived. I saw an escape pod head to Earth. It caught on fire, but they may have lived."

"Irkens are not fireproof..." Lord Nar said. He may be right. And if you get the Tallest back, then you will only be fighting Irkens again and they will be the ones to fight Meekrob when you tell them what they told you. It won't be perfect but it will restore the order to before this happened. Lord Nar then looked at the blue orb down below.

"Yeah I followed it to this spot right here. It's very brown and sandy." Shloonktapooxis said pointing to the Mojave desert.

"I have a crazy idea Shloonktapooxis, but hear me out." Lord Nar said.

"I'm listening. You know I will, you are my friend." Shloonktapooxis smiled as he looked at Lord Nar.

"The Resisty cannot take on Meekrob after all we had done to try and stop Irk. That's just not going to happen." Shloonktapooxis nodded. "But Irk can take Meekrob on. If I can get Red and Purple back into power, they will put all of Irk's forces against Meekrob, maybe lessen their hold on our planets, devastate their numbers and when they win, we can topple them and make them go away!" Lord Nar said with a maniac smile.

Shloonktapooxis looked on at him silently then burst out loudly. "That idea is just CRAZY enough to work. I say go for it."

"Really?" Lord Nar said.

"Can't hurt to try." Shloonktapooxis said.

"I'm going to do it. Keep an eye on The Resisty for me." Lord Nar said as he got into an escape pod. "I'm headed to Earth."

"Bye-bye!" Shloonktapooxis waved as best he could for being a floating cone.

Lord Nar looked down as he headed to the desert where the Tallest's escape pod was last seen. He was also going to find that human who had brought down the Massive and tell him what he was told by the Meekrob, he was just a pawn for their plans and they didn't really care what happened to him as long as they could get their ends. No one deserved to be used like he was for someone else's end. And maybe I could talk him into joining the Resisty. Lord Nar thought as his ship came to a stop by a small town in Nevada. He looked up and saw the night sky as he stepped out. "Computer look for a pointy haired human with Meekrob energy." Lord Nar said as the pointer led him to a hotel on the outskirts of the town. Lord Nar walked past the clerk, who appeared to be dazed and confused to begin with and followed the tracking device to Dib's room. He the opened the door and walked inside.

"AH!" Dib said as he saw Lord Nar standing in front of him.

"Relax, I am Lord Nar, Vortian leader of The Resisty and I am here to speak with you." Lord Nar said.

"Do you aliens know anything of knocking?" Dib said pulling the blanket around him. "I already had the Meekrob tell me I am just their tool for conquering Irk and told them to go jump off a cliff."

"They're beings of pure energy, that won't do anything to them." Lord Nar said.

"It's an expression." Dib sighed.

"Well, that was what I wanted to talk to you about." Lord Nar said.

"LATER!" Dib yelled throwing a pillow at him.

Lord Nar dodged it and headed out. "Okay, you will need your rest. And I will knock first when you are more presentable."

"God, what the hell is wrong with everything?" Dib sighed. "I thought defeating the Massive would be the end of my alien problems..."

So how was that? Good? Bad? Short? Long? Let me know in a review. I have been working on a lot of my stuff lately and I am kicking around a few DATR ideas one based off the Savages song from Pocahontas. But I am working on my schooling, looking for work, you know life and adult stuff. So remember to read, well you just did, and to review. Ciao for now

otherrealmwriter

aka

Realm


	4. Chapter 4

I don't own Invader Zim okay? I don't have much to say here, been working on a few of my other fics I want to finish by the end of this year so this one hasn't been updated in a little bit. But enough of this A/N, on with the fic!

Lord Nar sat at a diner on the opposite end of the town in the desert and looked around. He needed to talk with Dib about what he could do for the Resisty and to see if he knew anything about the Tallest. He had written a few things down on the napkins while the disgruntled late night waitress looked at him. "Are you going to order something than coffee?" She asked as the ashes of the cigarette she was smoking dropped into the old pot.

"Coffee." Lord Nar said and he looked at the menu. From what he could gather from human food, his favorite delicacy from back home, a Vort Dog was made of things similar to Earth's pork, which was in much of the items on the breakfast menu of the diner. "A pecan waffle, bacon and sausage. And fried eggs. Double up on the sausage and more coffee. I never knew there could be a drink this good."

"Whatever, enjoy your heart attack weirdo." The waitress said. "What band are you with?"

"Huh?" Lord Nar asked looking at the waitress.

"We get tons of people who look like you come through here. Usually some band who couldn't make it very big in Vegas out there." Lord Nar looked to the bright town in the distance. "Yeah, lots of bands go in trying to be edgy and make it big there before trying in LA, Los Angles," She added at Lord Nar's look. "But they get a gig or two, it goes bad and they end up wandering the desert till someone finds their modified corpse. Dehydration or heat stroke."

"Well, that's good to know. Part of a band called The Resisty to do much that." Lord Nar lied. He knew she would know about aliens at this point, what with the Massive crashing only miles from the diner. However, if she thought he was some weird human, he was going to roll with it as he didn't want his exitance exposed and that was a good cover. So the Meekrob already told Dib what he was to them, and what they intended to do. He seemed rather annoyed at them, so would he want to help us? Goodness knows he can be useful. That was the most impressive use of intergalactic skills and warfare from a technologically inferior race I had ever seen. Lord Nar thought as he slowly stirred his coffee, waiting for the food to come up.

Meanwhile, in the desert that night, with the dried out corpses of failed bands, Purple was looking over Red's wounds while trying to triangulate where Zim's PAK was. Earth was about the size of Irk and Purple knew that Zim could be anywhere. The records had the locations of his previous transmissions. I sure hope he isn't back where his base was, it says it's nearly 2000 miles from here... Purple thought as he pushed a few buttons on a computer in his arm cuff, trying to locate Zim. He was the only Irken on this planet and he might be able to help him. Please, for the love of Miyuki, let Zim be close by... Purple thought pleadingly with himself as he connected to Zim's PAK and turned on the TRAK locator. "BINGO!" Purple said as Zim's location was pinpointed.

"Huh?" Red asked as he came back to, looking at Purple.

"Apparently according to the TRAK, Zim isn't that far from here, about 45 miles or so." Purple said.

"45 miles?" Red asked with a note of shock. "Isn't that a little far when we have no ships to fly us to?"

"Yeah, it is." Purple said with a defeated tone. He knew Red had a point. Sure, as Tallests, they could float and that would take the strain off, but there was still the obvious hindrance of Red being injured. If they were both safe, it would be an easy prospect as long as they kept out of the sight of humans who might be in the area, but from what Purple could tell, this area had hardly any humans in it except for a town off in the distance. But there were lots of sand dunes and big rocks around so if someone was passing by, there was a good chance they could hide until they passed. Purple then looked over at Red and sighed. "I could go and get help from Zim and come back to get you."

"And how long would it take to get there in the first place?" Red asked.

"Let me do some calculations." Purple said as he typed some figures into his wrist computer. "Ummmmm..." Purple blushed and looked away at the amount of time it would take to get to where Zim was at Dib's labs in the first place.

"Pur?" Red asked before he grabbed his side in pain.

"Well, it won't take a whole Earth day to get there..." Purple said trying to avoid the answer.

"Let's get real here." Red said looking at Purple. "And we're in the desert. It's a one sun planet in a goldilocks zone so it's not murder but the fact still remains when it gets dark, the temperature is going to drop. A lot."

"Yeah." Purple said. His calculations had it where it would take him 15 hours, as a typical floating speed for a Tallest was about the same speed it took a human to walk. "Well there is an option I don't want to have to use..."

"What? Seppuku?" Red asked. "I'll do you if you do me at the same time..."

"Not suicide." Purple said annoyed. Well not yet... He thought as he looked at Red. "I can use my jet boosters in my PAK to make it there in about a quarter of the time."

"And would you be able to get back in the same amount of time?" Red asked.

Purple quickly did some calculation with the jet booster fuel in his PAK. "Looks like it. And Zim's weight on the way back wouldn't affect me any. He's so puny, I wouldn't notice it."

"So, let me check mine, maybe I could handle it." Red said as he pulled up his wrist computer in his arm cuff and looked at it. "Shit." He said.

"Figured." Purple said. "If your PAK was forcing you to go to sleep, then I highly doubt you could come with me, and it's a big risk as we are in a desert with a bunch of saucer morons. I mean did you see that sign that said 'Extraterrestrial Highway'? People come out here looking for aliens. Most people it seems it's a gag but still. Our ship was brought down. If nothing else, humans know they aren't alone. And we are the leaders of the race that tried to Invade here. I doubt they would give us a friendly reception."

Red winced again as he laid back down in pain. His PAK was tapping into the emergency nutrients and using them up fast. He had suffered massively when the escape pod crashed and now they were alone in a hostile desert filled with humans hopped up on victory and the humbling idea they were no longer alone. From what Zim had sent them, they were ignorant creatures who fought with each other just because they looked different and had different ideas that were still worthless in the grand scheme of things. They had only gotten to the Moon and were still using fossil fuels and could hardly break the speed of light in hypothetical tests. Stuff Irk had done a long time before even Miyuki's days as Tallest before they became an Empire. Purple looked to where the crowd was only hours before when the ship crashed. They had all gone but the image of Dib simply kicking a burst of wind into submission wasn't right. Zim's information on humans said they had no special powers, but that one human who tore up their snack bin did it with an energy that he had seen only once before, and had information from. "Tenn!" Purple said.

"What about her?" Red asked.

"She was assigned to Meekrob. What happened, I don't know, we never went there, but she was sent to provide us information on them. And that pointy haired big headed human was using energy they had!" Purple said replaying the day's events in his mind.

"I thought you said that this planet thought they were the only life in the Universe?" Red asked as he turned on his side to a more comfortable position and shoed away a scorpion.

"Well, officially they thought that and acted as such." Purple said rereading transcripts of what Zim had told them that they had brushed off as useless before. "But there was a reason that big headed guy was the one, if I age up the pictures we have of that Dib kid that was messing with Zim..." Purple said as he took a screen shot he had of Dib when he was 13 years old, and put it in an age progression program. Red grabbed Purple's wrist computer in shock and looked at it.

"Well fuck me up the ass with a Florpus!" Red yelled in shock. "Why didn't we make the connection, that little twerp grew up and made contact with the Meekrob and they used him to bring us down!"

"All the more reason to get to Zim and try to get back to Irk and get everything back together!" Purple said as he put the pieces together in his mind of what was going to happen. It was painfully obvious at this point. Meekrob wanted the Massive and the Tallest out of the way and the best way to do that and cause disruption and chaos in the Empire was to have them lose on a planet that was thought of as an ignorant backwater hell hole filled with barbaric hairless monkeys that were the result of a messed up Anunnaki experiment they abandoned. Then the Irken Empire would be ripe for the taking. The Meekrob found the one human who was smart enough and accepting and comprehending of the idea of aliens to make their pawn and then used that human when he was grown to take them down. "Those beings of energy are messing with too much!" Purple yelled as a coyote howled. He pulled out a soda and a box of donuts and placed them beside Red. "Look, I have got to go save Zim wherever the hell he is out in this sunbaked wasteland. This will keep you alive till I get back. I am going to use the cover of night to get to Zim and work on getting the Escape Pod to be powered enough to get back to Irk. Maybe Zim still has his Voot Cruiser. But whatever, we can't stay here. Looks like there's about 9 hours of dark and no moon, so I'll be fine."

"Why does no moon matter?" Red asked.

"It gives off a little light and I need all the dark I can to get to Zim." Purple said. He looked to the northwest and got ready. "Stay here, rest up." He reached to his side where he had the laser pistol. "Take this, you'll need it more than me. I can still fight. I remember the academy days."

"Bring that annoying turd back." Red said, trying to keep his composure.

"I will." Purple said as he headed to Dib's labs where Zim was being held prisoner. "Don't die on me. I couldn't take a flight back to Irk with just Zim for company."

"I'm not that broken and pathetic you idiot." Red said as Purpled waved and activated his jet boosters. He really would have preferred to float, but time was of the essence.

The next morning, while Lord Nar was on his 5th order of pecan waffles and sausage and bacon and 19th cup of coffee, Dib walked in, Greatest Person Ever to Live medal still on his chest, sat down next to Lord Nar and sighed. "So, what do you need me for so bad you can't let me enjoy the one good thing I have in my life?"

So how was that? Good? Bad? Talky? Let me know in a review. I based Lord Nar's love of coffee and order off what I usually like to get at Waffle House. (Don't go to the Ashland KY one though...) and I said before the setting is in the Nevada desert because of Area 51 so you can see why I picked that if you ignored what I said in previous chapters. So remember to read (well you just did) and to review. Ciao for now,

otherrealmwriter

aka

Realm.


	5. Chapter 5

I don't own Invader Zim okay? I don't have much really to say at the beginning with this A/N, so enough of that and on with the fic!

"So, what's so bad that I can't finally enjoy this moment?" Dib sighed as he ordered himself a cup of coffee and turned to Lord Nar.

"We saw what you did to the Massive. Very, very, very impressive." Lord Nar said as he took the cup of coffee and turned it upside down, draining it. "Another mam!" He yelled as the waitress sighed.

"There's no way that can be healthy." She said as she filled up his cup. "But hey, you keep paying, I keep filling."

"Okay, other than a Vortian's apparent addiction to caffeine, what is it you wanted with me?" Dib said as he moved the stirrer around with a slight blue wave of energy, amused at the ability he had for nearly 20 years now.

"The Meekrob plan on using you to their own ends." Lord Nar said.

"Yes, they told me this and I told them to fuck off. I only worked for Earth, I don't care about what the other alien races do. I finally got my life together now and no one can make fun of me! Well for my ideas anyway. They stopped making fun of my head when I was in my 20's. Something Dad said about me needing to grow into it, puberty sorted things out..." Dib said.

"Geesh, you sure can ramble on." Lord Nar said as Dib looked at him crossly at the comment. "But no, I am the leader of the Resisty and we are a group of races that had been conquered by Irk in Operation Impeding Doom II. You see I founded it soon after Vort was conquered and turned into a military research prison."

"I see." Dib said as his stomach started to growl and he saw the sun rising to the east, a light pastel orange glow falling over the sand, rocks and sagebrush. He then turned to the menu and to keep from the waitress from glaring at him too, despite the fact he was still wearing his "Greatest Person Ever to Live" award, he placed an order. "Ummmmm 2 chocolate chip waffles please."

"Whatever. You may be 'Greatest Person Ever to Live' but I honestly didn't need to have you encourage that lead singer." She said as she wrote down Dib's order and placed it on the carousel, dining the bell, letting the cook know there was an order.

"What's her problem? Seems like you've been here awhile." Dib asked Lord Nar.

"Well, I have. And she doesn't like people just sitting around. Says it hurts her tips or something like that. But I think between a few saucer morons and a couple of what you humans call truckers there was no one else for hours." Lord Nar said. "She just thinks I am a member of a band that was trying to get a 'gig' in that town about 100 miles from here."

"Las Vegas." Dib said. "Yeah, there's good reason she'd think that. But back to the topic at hand."

"Yes, well being an ally of Irk's and providing them with most of their technology, I mean I do regret that you destroyed the Massive. That was some of my proudest work." Lord Nar said with an angered look at Dib.

"Why would you be mad about that if you wanted to bring them down?" Dib asked.

"It's the principle of the thing I guess. I and my fellow Vortians helped to design and build that thing. Yes they did use it but you can never quite separate yourself from your work. How I got an idea to feed the Resisty when we were first starting out was the fact that the side pods were filled with snacks. That was the Irkens' greatest weakness. They like to indulge a little too much when there were other areas that they should have been working on." Lord Nar said. "But Vort's back story aside, once you brought that ship down with those powers the Meekrob gave you, you unleashed a fresh hell for the rest of the galaxy unwittingly."

"Well I was just protecting Earth there!" Dib said defensively. "I didn't know enough about your intergalactic power struggles to know what that would do."

"I am assuming that back when they gave you the powers, they didn't tell you they wanted you to be their weapon." Lord Nar said as he bit down on a sausage. "These are delicious by the way. Almost as good as a Vort Dog."

"You've had 83!" The waitress said as she put another plate down in front of him. "How you haven't died from all that fat and caffeine, I will never know. Just tip me well. Oh and Greatest Person Ever to Live, here's your waffles." She said placing Dib's waffles down in front of him harshly.

"You will be tipped handsomely mam." Lord Nar said politely. "But when you brought down the Massive, I was ecstatic. As soon as you did, two Meekrob by the names of Chowfun and Lomein came in and told me they were now out to conquer Irk."

"So?" Dib asked. "Sounds like that would be neither of our problems. Defiantly not mine." He said as he put some butter and syrup on his waffles.

"Well, it is my problem, and why I needed to talk to you about a few things." Lord Nar admitted. "I would not expect you to care about others who would need it, being a human and all. It's quite a feat of generosity to defend your own planet, the way you fight with each other over trivial things." Dib looked at him insulted. "But here's the thing, the planets conquered by Irk are in the Irken Empire. They haven't been set free and independent yet. So if the Meekrob Empire takes over Irk, it's sort of like this Risk board game I read about that humans play. If they take the home planet of the Irken Empire, they take the rest of the planets under their control."

"I never played Risk, but sounds like it, maybe a little off..." Dib said.

"So you see the issue at hand? We'd have another tyrannical empire ruling our people instead of returning them to their dignity and independence. That was the Resisty's goal. You may be the Greatest Person Ever to Live on Earth now, but we could use your talents and skills and even the powers, use Meekrob's weapon against themselves. Irk may be hobbled and hobbling Irk would have been one of our first steps towards independence as they couldn't keep ahold on so many planets without the Massive, but we did not want an new alien oppressor." Lord Nar yelled out in tired desperation. Dib laughed. "What's so funny jerk?"

"Alien oppressor... and you're an alien so..." Dib said.

"Well to us, you're the alien, idiot." Lord Nar said snarkly back. Dib shut up.

"Fine. Point taken." Dib said. He looked at his waffles and then back to Lord Nar. He looked at the annoyed but concerned Vortian's eyes and saw he was indeed worried what would become of his home world, going from one oppressor to another. Dib knew that while Irk may not have been one of the most sympathetic overlords, the Meekrob could not be much better. They used him as a pawn giving him the world at the moment but expected them to be their loyal servant after that. Cold and unfeeling. At least the Irkens could be more vociferous and full of life. Part of the fun of taking them down was seeing the Tallest freak out over losing the snacks. Leaders of an impressive intergalactic empire, acting like spoiled children who had lost their ice cream cones, acting like the world came to an end just because of the loss of the snacks. Dib bit his lower lip. He had wanted to be done with saving planets, Irkens and just the whole thing he had been struggling with so long. He had achieved his dream and wanted to savor it. But at the same time, it was going to get boring fast, something his own father, being a world famous scientist himself warned of. "I need to think about this. I mean I am sympathetic to your cause, because the Meekrob were quite the jerks to just assume I would serve them blindly and all, but you don't deserve to spend so much time fighting Irk to try and fight Meekrob next."

"I understand." Lord Nar said as he pulled out a communicator watch and handed it to Dib.

"I already have something like this." Dib said confused.

"This is one that will link directly to me." Lord Nar said. "When you decide, let me know." He dug into his pocket and laid a large stack of money on the table. "Keep the change mam. I have made sure that there was a very good tip in there for you."

"Thanks..." She said surprised looking at the large pile of bills that all appeared to be real as Lord Nar left the diner. She took the money to the register to ring up the total and add the change to her tips for the night with an ecstatic smile on her face. "I'd help that guy out. Whatever he needed of you, I'd do it. If he's that good a tipper, then he can't be all bad. He tipped more than everyone else did all night combined. I don't even care how he got the money!"

"Yeah, that's something I'm curious about. But I have to think a lot about his deal." Dib said.

Sizz-lorr was on Foodcourtia finishing the Inventory when he felt a buzz in his PAK. It must have been serious, as this only happened to the elite under the most dire of circumstances. Maybe what Gashloog heard as a rumor was true... Sizz-lorr thought as he pressed a button and a message began to play. "All Irken Tall Elite who receive this need to report to the Irken capitol of Zennithapex as soon as possible. Tallests Red and Purple cannot be located and their PAKs are not picking up our signals. To keep the power of the Empire, a new Tallest will be selected from some of Irk's Tallest."

"Great, I do not want that job after Red and Purple got Operation Impeding Doom trashed at the end of such a success. Why did they even go after Zim's planet?" Sizz-lorr said as he turned off the message and headed to his ship to report back to Irk.

"Where you going boss?" Gashloog said as he noticed Sizz-lorr come out of the freezer.

"I got duties on Irk, keep an eye on the place Gashloog." Sizz-lorr said.

"Okay, I hope all goes well." Gashloog said saluting him.

"Me too. I hope I'm not stuck there." Sizz-lorr said. Miyuki knows there has to be taller Irkens than me out there. I do not want that job at all. That would involve undoing a massive clusterfuck that the previous Tallest did.

So how was that? Good? Bad? Short? Long? Let me know in a review. Irk is in a rush to get new Tallest, assuming that Red and Purple are dead, Lord Nar trying to convince Dib to help them, and massive amounts of waffles, coffee and somehow money. I am hoping to get Taboo and maybe Minutes to Midnight done by the end of the year, but I will keep working on this when the ideas for those two get low. So remember to read (well you just did) and to review. Ciao for now,

otherrealmwriter

aka

Realm


	6. Chapter 6

I don't own Invader Zim okay? I am glad to see so many people like this fic. So while I am working on a few things I figured I would update. But enough of this A/N, on with the fic!

Purple landed as softly as he could inside the fence of Area 51. The guards were still busy examining the wreckage of the Massive to notice that one of the Irken leaders who was on the ship when Dib had brought it down had just crossed their fence and into their jurisdiction. Purple took a deep breath and moved on. The important part was finding Zim. The labs were a highly secured fortress from what he could see, guards with guns that he knew fired projectiles instead of energy beams like most Irkens used. However, that did not mean that the essence of guard duty wasn't the same no matter what you were using. And from what Purple could see, had many of the same foibles. He crouched down in a sagebrush as best he could, knowing that plants in the desert hardly got tall enough for a Tallest to hide. At nearly 7 foot 5 inches tall, hiding wasn't that easy. A door opened, and Purple jumped along the wall, hoping that no one saw or heard him.

"Whoooooo! Humans rule!" One of the guards said as he danced around in a circle holding a can of beer in one hand, his other arm around his buddy, who was equally intoxicated.

"We're not alone in the universe, but we kicked their ass!" The other guard said.

"Hell yeah!" the first guard said. Purple rolled his eyes and looked on as the guards then passed out in front of the door. He then picked up the hat and shirt of the guard, slung the rifle over his shoulder, hoping the rest of the staff was just as clueless as the guards seemed to be. Zim was inside these labs, he just had to find exactly where. He looked at the computer in his arm cuff and followed the dot of Zim's TRAK. He was in a private section. Hopefully this won't take long... Purple thought as he headed down the hallways to get to where Zim was being kept.

"Hello?" One of the workers in the Area 51 labs said from behind Purple. "Where are you going sir? You know you are heading to Dib's labs where Zim is, right?"

This worker seemed naive and trusting, and remembering many of the shorter crew members of the Massive would be easily fooled by a guard, he did his best impression of a guard on an official job. "Don't you think I don't know that?" Purple said.

"Oh! I didn't know... I just..." The worker said.

"I have a job here that you are not a part of." Purple said in a gruff voice.

"Okay, just do a good job." The worker said as he ran off. Purple breathed a sigh of relief and headed to where he found Zim's TRAK to be. This meant that his PAK was still active and Zim was probably still alive. Once an Irken died, the PAK was no longer needed and stopped functioning. It wasn't uncommon in battles for many Irkens to become unknown soldiers in the battlefield disposed of however the winner (usually Irk) saw fit to. Which was just to put them all into a big hole in the ground. He had about a total of 9 hours of night to rescue Zim, get back to where Red was with Zim and then they could treat him and find a way to get back to Irk. Zim would be overenthusiastic to be personal aids to the Tallest themselves so he could be counted on to help them out. At least if Purple had it his way, that was what it would be. It had been 20 Earth years since they last heard from Zim and when they tried to call his PAK, he didn't answer, but the TRAK was showing he was still alive. Zim just ignored you because it had been such a long time since you called, he could have easily doubted it was real or thought it a malfunction.Purple thought as he headed through the corridors to a room that had in Dib's handwriting on a poster board in black magic marker, 'Dib the Great Paranormal Researcher's Labs. Do not enter without Dib's express permission. Seriously. Don't. It's booby trapped.' "That Meekrob powered human stink monkey with the pointy hair seriously goes on doesn't he?" Purple sighed as he adjusted the hat and the shirt he took off the passed out guard and slung the gun behind him, hoping there was no cameras about and reached to the knob. "Here's hoping it isn't locked. I don't know how to use a human gun."

The door to the labs creeked open and Zim looked up from his containment chamber. "Huh? You here to taunt me more? Or should I say I taunt you more? You know your defeat of my people is pyrrhic at best. It's like I told you before..." Zim said.

"Relax, it's me, Tallest Purple. That human stink monkey won't be taunting you anymore." Purple said as he headed over to Zim's containment chamber. "So this is how they kept you for 20 Earth years."

"Yes, reading magazines on human psychology most of the time, sometimes guns, looks like you have an AR-15 there. Small caliber but effective. I do have to give it that. Took it off a guard I see." Zim observed.

"So, all they've been doing to you is giving you magazines to read? Not torturing you for information on the Irken Empire?" Purple said as he looked for something that would release Zim.

"Well what are you doing here my Tallest wearing the shirt of a guard, a hat and a gun?" Zim asked. "And this has been torture. Not knowing what your enemy will do to you, but he did inadvertently give me insight into his mind and weaponry of his people with this. He can be brilliant but he's got a Vortian mind, overlooking massive flaws. Like with the Mechadoomers."

"We can talk later. I have got to get you out so you can help me heal up Red. He got injured on the crash when our escape pod landed on Earth due to a malfunction." Purple said. "Here, this looks like it turns off an alarm." He said as he switched it from 'secured' to 'unsecured' and then turned to the containment tube and pressed the 'Release' button. "Now we're going to have to get out of here. So stick with me Zim!" Purple ordered.

"Yes My Tallest." Zim said plainly, which struck Purple as kind of odd. Before this, Zim would have been ecstatic to follow such a command. After all, he spent 3 hours just saying "My Tallest" before Red shut him up. "I noticed the guards have been drinking a lot."

"Yeah, they're pretty idiotic. They didn't notice I am nearly a foot and a half taller than the average human male." Purple said as Zim followed him.

"Probably used to seeing Dib's hair. He grew to be about 6 foot 2 inches tall, but he still wears thick boots that add about 3 inches and that hair of his really got taller. I have to say it added at least 8 inches." Zim pulled out his fingers doing some quick math. "So that translates to about 85 inches which is a little under 7 feet tall, so yeah, they are kind of use to that tall a presence."

"Well that partially explains it." Purple said as he led Zim out the containment chamber. "But the shirt I grabbed was rather small... I doubt we'd be able to use it to hide."

"What do you mean my Tallest?" Zim asked.

"You'd jump on my chest and I'd hide you until we got to the desert outside the fence and I could fly back to where Red is resting." Purple explained.

"Go to the camera room. There's some shirts there the guards watching the footage around this place would change into because they spill coffee and donut frosting all over them a lot." Zim said. He looked at a map on the wall outside of Dib's lab. "Here." He jumped up and pointed at, knowing that he was still the height of an average 5th grade boy.

"You seem to know a lot about the operations here." Purple said as he followed Zim to the camera room.

"I had 20 Earth years to observe stuff. When that is all you do, you learn a lot. And your enthusiasm goes way down when you read too much psychology too..." Zim said. "Find out how the human mind works and you begin to question your own. It's nuts."

Purple nodded as he followed Zim and grabbed one of the shirts the guard had left and placed it over him, covering his PAK. Zim then jumped on with a little help from Purple and they headed back out the way they came, gun still strapped over in case they ran into any trouble. Purple was hoping that nothing would happen. Zim was not the spontaneous fighter that could be trusted to go crazy and do anything and everything in a fight. But he had gotten this far without any real incident, there was a good chance that he could get out the same way. He opened the door he broke in with and looked to find the guards he had looted for disguise reasons still passed out in the waning night. Purple looked to the east and saw that there was a faint light coming up. "Which way does the sun rise on this planet?" He asked.

"East." Zim said. "But you got a few more hours before anyone would notice anything."

"Good." It will take a few hours to get to Red, if we can do that before the sun is fully up, we're good." Purple explained as he tossed the fat guard's coffee and donut stained shirt to the mercy of the wind and the desert.

"Once we get out of the perimeter of the Area 51 base, there'll be less people seeing us. Just saucer morons and no one believes them anyway." Zim explained. "Dib would sometimes bring a few of the better looking and desirable female ones into his lab and make out with them on the desk in front of me. I don't know if he was trying to gross me out or I was a symbol of his biggest dream coming true."

"Did not need to know that Zim. Can you stop being Shrink Zim and be your old Invader Zim self? This is getting depressing faster than it is." Purple said as he flew across the desert and found the rock cave he had Red laying in.

"Coyotes!" Zim said as he pulled the AR 15 that Purple had stolen off the guard, pulled the charging lever back and pulled the trigger, firing at the coyotes, making them run off if they were not killed.

"Nice work Zim." Purple said in amazed earnest.

"Like I said, I read a lot of gun magazines the guards would leave too." Zim said.

Red sat up at the noise of the bullets and coyotes and held the laser pistol aloft as best he could. He saw the hat of the Area 51 guard and running on instinct yelled out, "You think your puny lead bullets can stop an Almighty Tallest of the Irken Empire? We're not out yet!" Red yelled before collapsing back again.

"He wasn't shot?" Zim asked as he ran over to Red. "I didn't mean to My Tallest, I was just hoping to stop those coyotes from eating your lifeless corpse."

"Zim, you're here to help PREVENT him from becoming a lifeless corpse." Purple said as he placed the hat down. "That was me Red, I think you just freaked out a little. I took a hat from a guard to get into the base."

"Good. Zim, am I glad to see you, I need your help." Red said with a smile.

"Never thought you'd say those words and mean it My Tallest." Zim said as he knelt next to Red.

"Yeah, me neither." Red said as he lay back down.

So how was that? Good? Bad? Short? Long? Let me know in a review. I know it wasn't an action packed escape but I figured after something that big the guards would be partying it up and be less than guard worthy. And I do have a tie in to my oneshot Victory or Defeat there, but once again, they are two separate fics. I also have a holiday project I am working on called Christmas Season Starts Earlier Each Year, a Nightmare Before Christmas fic. But enough story pimping aside, remember to read (well you just did) and to review! Ciao for now,

otherrealmwriter

aka

Realm


	7. Chapter 7

I don't own Invader Zim okay? I know I wanted to get Minutes to Midnight done before the end of the year as well as Taboo, but that story is pretty hard to come up with ideas for at the moment. But this one is coming along okay, so enough of this A/N, on with the fic!

Dib stood in the shower, looking over at the sleeping form of his girlfriend who was not disturbed by any alien presence in the night. He was thankful for that. While she and the rest of the human race was certain aliens indeed existed now, he didn't want her to get wrapped up in intergalactic power vacuums as well. He was on the cusp of being pulled into it himself. As the hot water fell on his face, he could see how the Meekrob could expect something of him in their long game of chess to be the power in the galaxy. You don't give gifts like that just because you are sympathetic and charitable. At the same time, he had finished what he had started all those years ago. I saved the Earth from the Irken Empire and everyone knows I was right. Dib thought as he reached for the shampoo. So what do I do now? He thought as he washed his hair.

Once he finished he got dressed and headed out to find his girlfriend awake awaiting her turn. "So I see you cleaned up." She smiled.

"Yeah I did." Dib said putting his hand behind his back. "So what do you want to do today? I am sure I am not needed at the labs unless someone does something stupid."

"Oh I don't know what exactly..." She said twirling her finger around the blanket. But I do know who I want to do it with."

"Who?" Dib asked.

"You you idiot." She laughed as she got up and kissed him. "I got to take a shower myself." With this she headed into the bathroom and shut the door.

She always takes a long time Dib thought as he flopped down on the bed and turned on the TV. "Nothing good. Not like there is much this time of day anyway..." He said as he stared at the ceiling. He couldn't stand most of the paranormal shows that were on because they were either on aliens in the past, which having read books on the subject since he was practically a toddler was nothing new to him, or ghost shows where someone bought an old funeral parlor house and then tried to talk to the spirits with a Ouija board and let in some bad demons. He found himself screaming at the person recounting their tales when they said "I got a Ouija board to talk to them". As an expert in the paranormal, these things were patronizing and dumbed it down at best, at worst it made a mockery of it. He just left it on the channel that displayed the local weather and it was what he expected it to be, hot and dry. They were at a hotel in the Mojave after all. "Maybe I should try to help Lord Nar..." Dib said to himself as the Grim future of not having to worry about accomplishing his goals started to dawn on him. "No! I'm done with that! I am not fighting for anyone else!" He said as his phone started to ring. "Hello?" He asked.

"Oh Dib sir, we have some bad news to report. We don't know how it happened. We weren't partying that hard..." The guard said, his voice trembling.

"You were partying on duty?" Dib asked.

"Well we didn't think there would be any need for us that night, and we just had defeated an alien menace..." The guard pleaded.

"You mean I did." Dib said crossly.

"Anyway, we went to check on Zim, and he wasn't there! There was a really tall guard who came in and he left with them from what we could tell from the screen." The guard said.

"Really tall?" Dib asked, his suspicions starting to rise. It couldn't be. I mean they would have had a chance to escape being the royalty and all. I am sure they would have had the most protection of any Irken available. And why would they go after Zim, from what I got when I was spying on him was that his leaders hated him! Why would they save him?

"Yeah. This guard thing looks like he was nearly 7 feet tall!" The guard panicked.

"Oh." Dib said as he looked at the wall. "I'll be right there. I did not think they'd come for him. Although you guys fucked up."

"Sorry if not all of us have freaky powers! I don't know if our bullets would do anything to the Irkens and before you say anything, you didn't tell us their weakness outside water. We have M16s not super soakers!" The guard said.

"Fine. Just hold on, I'll be there." Dib yelled as his girlfriend came out of the bathroom.

"Is everything okay?" She asked, towel wrapped around her, hair soaking wet.

"No, I have to head back to Area 51. Seems like the Irken Tallest, their leaders," He added when she looked at him with a confused look. "has come to Earth and broke him free."

"Do you have to go?" She looked at him pleadingly.

"Yeah. It seems so. I will be back as soon as I can. I wish I could just pass this off, but the guards really let me down. Like really." Dib said as he kissed her, ran out of the room and left her standing there with a disappointed look on her face.

Sizz-lorr had landed on Irk and headed to Tallest Tower, hoping that he was not one of the tallest Irkens left. He did have a very important position at Shloogorgoh's and that was one of the most valued restaurants to the Irken Empire on Foodcourtia. However he never really thought it was worthy of being part of the royal class of Irk. But he was summoned for a measuring which meant he was over 6 and a half feet tall. This measurement was used to determine who was exactly the Tallest when no heir was already named. When Spork died, Red and Purple were in the military as generals in the administration department and they were found to be the same height so they both became Tallest. Miyuki had groomed Spork for it so there was no need for a measuring ceremony as he was made sure to be the tallest Irken in the Empire after Miyuki. Sizz-lorr had just started running Shloogorgoh's at the time so he wasn't as tall as he was now but he did keep an eye on the affairs of the Empire. It had a big impact on his business. He headed into the measuring room and looked around. "Phewwwwww..." He sighed. There were Irkens Taller than him in the room. "I don't think I will be made Tallest after all."

"Oh you can never be too certain anymore." a blue eyed scientist with spiral eyed goggles said as he looked at Sizz-lorr. "I mean if the Massive could have been taken down by a genetically modified human, then there is so much we need to do to keep our place. I have so many ideas and I will pump so much of our resources into the scientific research department."

"Why?" Sizz-lorr asked annoyed at the scientist talking to him.

"Well since the recent months of Operation Impending Doom II, we never could seem to get what we fully need to perfect our research." He said with a flick of his hand. "If I am made Tallest I will correct that."

"Who are you and why are you talking to me?" Sizz-lorr asked.

"Oh were are my manners! But I am Cel. I am one of the head scientists in the department of planetary adaptations."

"Oh." Sizz-lorr said as he looked at one of the other Irkens in the room. "Think she'd have you beat. You look to be the same height as me but she's nearly as tall as Red and Purple were." He said pointing to a green eyed female Irken in the corner of the room.

"Ceus." She said introducing herself. "Love your work at Shloogorgoh's. Snack foods are important to the Empire. When I am made Tallest I will be sure to make sure that you have only the best employees and not dump defective trash on your doorstep. I mean Zim was re-encoded as a food service drone but that doesn't mean he should have been placed with you."

"I made sure he did have the worst jobs." Sizz-lorr smiled.

"Good." Ceus said smiling at him. "In a little while the Control Brains will begin the measuring. I can tell you don't want this job Sizz-lorr," She noticed him stare at her. "Nothing wrong with that, not everyone is meant to be the ruler of an entirely planet and its intergalactic empire, especially when it is in crisis. I will need your help because I heard your skills handling a Foodening all on your own, so you will be an advisor."

"Well if there was an election, I'd vote for you, Ceus." Sizz-lorr said.

As the tallest Irkens in the Empire gathered for the Great Measuring, Chowfun and Lomein looked over at the group. This was going to be their chance to strike and help to cripple the Irken Empire so they could take it for the Meekrob Empire. "Well, we may not be able to take the Control Brains at this very moment but we can narrow the pool of Irkens that could take over and possibly stop us." Lomein said.

"Yes, that is actually a good idea." Chowfun said. "I think we should attack over there," He motioned an energy arm over to where Cel, Ceus, and Sizz-lorr were standing and discussing the measuring.

"Well two of the Irkens seem to be possible candidates, but the one they are talking to with that spatula pack on their back, he seems to be shorter than the others and Irk does not have leaders shorter than 7 feet tall. At least not in the past 500 years..." Lomein said.

"Who cares, the more tall Irkens we take out the weaker we can make them." Chowfun said as he charged up his energy beam and took aim at Cel, Ceus and Sizz-lorr.

"What's going on?" Sizz-lorr said as he turned around and yelled, "LOOK OUT!" He said as he dove on Ceus and pushed her to the ground, causing Chowfun's energy beam to pass over her and strike Cel fully through the chest and to his PAK, shorting it out and causing him to collapse.

"What the name of Miyuki is going on here?" Ceus said looking around.

"I don't know," Sizz-lorr said as he looked over at Cel's dead body. "Well, he's out of the running. Speaking of running, we should do that. Seems like some Meekrob have gotten in and are trying to kill us all."

"How can you tell?" Ceus said as she looked over Sizz-lorr's shoulder and saw Cel's dead body.

"I know Meekrob burns. Just trust me on that." Sizz-lorr said. "Now let's go!"

"How can a simple manager of a food service store on Foodcourtia be that tall and well versed in injuries from Meekrob?" Ceus asked.

"I'll tell you later, but we got to get the fuck out of here!" Sizz-lorr said.

"Fine, but you WILL have to tell me later." She said in annoyance as she followed him.

"Once we're safe I will, but we got to get there first!" Sizz-lorr said heading for a utility room, a place where the Meekrob would never suspect an elite Irken to be. He opened the door and shut it behind him and Ceus. "This just got more messed up beyond just the Massive going down..." He sighed as he looked at Ceus's panicked look on her face.

So how was that? Good? Bad? Short? Long? Let me know in a review. I know it didn't have much Zim, Red or Purple in it but the collapse of an Empire is a lot like ripples in a pond or the ocean after an earthquake making a Tsunami. I really don't have much else to say in this A/N, so remember to read (well you just did) and to review. Ciao for now,

otherrealmwriter

aka

Realm.


	8. Chapter 8

I do not own Invader Zim okay? I know I haven't updated like I had before but I got a lot on my plate until the end of April. But I got a chance to have some free time and I am going to try and get some updates done. But enough of that, enough of this A/N, on with the fic!

Sizz-lorr stood with his back to the door, panting slightly looking at Ceus with concern as she looked at him with appreciation but slight annoyance and confusion. "Okay, I don't hear them, but I'm not going to head out of here for awhile. It's going to be a blood bath in there."

"And just what is going on, how do you know Meekrob burns? I mean those things wouldn't be very likely to be on Foodcourtia much, would they? I mean they're pure energy. So how would even a highly skilled Food Service Irken know about..." Ceus said as her eyes widened. "You weren't always in Food Service were you?"

"You're smart." Sizz-lorr said. "Smarter than our current Tallest. Never been more certain that you'd be better than them."

"Compliments aside, what the hell is going on? And why do you know what you do?" Ceus said annoyed.

"I wasn't always a food service drone." Sizz-lorr said.

"I wouldn't dare call you something so degrading like that." Ceus said honestly.

"Well before I was manager of Shloogorgoh's's, I used to be a member of the explority scout squad. The one who decided what planets to add to an Operation Impeding Doom. And I was sent to Meekrob to study it." Sizz-lorr said.

"So why do we send Invaders to a place if you did a job similar to that?" Ceus said.

"Well, it was similar but different." Sizz-lorr began to explain. Ceus wasn't part of the military so she wouldn't know anything but the show that the Tallest put on and parade the Invaders around like toy soldiers. Much of how the powerful Irken military was structured was buried in layer upon layer of secrecy surrounded by a loud and pompous vernier. "The Tallest don't want to waste an Invader on a planet that has little to no use to Irk."

"Then why the hell in the name of Miyuki did we put Blorch on Operation Impending Doom II?" Ceus pondered.

"Wasn't my squad. I think that might have been one of Purple's picks. You know how those two can be less than lacking in judgment." Sizz-lorr said.

"Well that makes sense. But how does you and Meekrob play into this?" Ceus asked.

"I was leader of the squad sent to evaluate Meekrob's general worth. Location, resources, current Empire, political status in the galaxy, that kind of thing. When we go to a place, a squad would appear to be as civilian as we could. No one would think too much of a bunch of Irken tourists acting like we do wherever we go while we send scientists samples to determine the value of a planet. The Invaders them go and blend in and find their weaknesses so we can take them over." Sizz-lorr explained. Ceus looked on as she could tell that something really bad had happened to him and possibly his men on Meekrob if he would give all that up. Sizz-lorr's height told Ceus that whatever he did was pretty important because former military hardly ever got Promotions when they were thrust into civilian life.

Ceus reached out and tried to put her hand on Sizz-lorr's shoulder to comfort him. "What happened?" She asked softly.

"The Meekrob are beings of pure energy and are suspicious of anyone coming to their planet for any reason. They're a race that evolved so far they have no need for physical bodies but their minds haven't evolved much more than an Irken's in some ways. They know they are a formidable enemy and damn near immortal because of their status. And the knowledge they possess! One of my men found his way into a temple and every known fact about almost everything in the universe was there! And they knew others would want it." Sizz-lorr began. "Their planet had good supplies of resources that we could use. Pleasant climate for a tourist resort planet. Close enough to justify a vacation but far enough away for some peace and quiet. But what we wanted was their knowledge on damn near everything. I knew once my soldiers reported about this that that was why we would need to take them and their planet."

"So that's why Tenn was sent there. She is one of the taller Invaders. And she did well in the exams so she'd be good at trying to get intel." Ceus said.

"With Meekrob's knowledge we'd hardly need an Invader class. Only on places where they didn't know much on! They even knew about Earth before we did! I mean the Tallest thought they were banishing Zim to the great unknown. They didn't know it was more than a myth at best!" Sizz-lorr said.

"And the burns?" Ceus asked, trying to be caring but she craved more information.

"We were in the temple where they had the index of all they knew. What is on the other side of black holes, human evolution, is there some sort of superior being, the meaning of exitance, it was all there and we couldn't belive it! This had to be a trap!" Sizz-lorr recounted, the faces of his comrades in arms coming in clearer and clearer.

"Was it?" Ceus asked.

"Nope. They had cracked those mysteries. But they had gotten a bad vibe about us being on their planet. So as we headed into the temple, they snuck up behind us. One of my men had started turning the pages, eyes growing wide and glowing at what he was reading. Then they attacked and killed him. We saw them glowing red and knew we fucked up hard. They're normally a greenish blue and we took that as our signal to get the fuck out of there and call for back up. Well as we got to the evac ship that came our way, the guards attacked and killed off all the squad but me. I made it out but I told the Control Brains to reencode me. I was not about to have something like that happen again. But I wasn't trained as a scientist and I was too tall to be an orderly bringing them what they need. How Zim got that job before I'll never know. So they sent me to manage a restaurant on Foodcourtia and I was fine with that. I was not about to have someone killed like that again that didn't deserve it. Now if it was Zim, I'd hand him over to the Meekrob on a silver platter..." Ceus laughed. "What?"

"You don't want soldiers killed but you'll offer that defective to one of our worst enemies like that." Ceus smiled.

"You manage a Foodening on your own for 20 years." Sizz-lorr said.

"Point taken. I'd hate someone for doing something like that too." Ceus said. "But what do we do from here?"

"Well, they're on Irk so they're making their move. You know about the rumors about the Massive and that human they made their pawn. Poor guy doesn't know it I'd bet. Give a human, a species that unevolved that powerful a gift, they'd worship the fucker. Then tell that human who thought he was hot shit that 'no you're not, you're our sacrifice in our power struggle'" Sizz-lorr said as he placed his ear to the door to see if he could tell if they were anywhere nearby.

"That's just cruel." Ceus sighed.

"Yeah." Sizz-lorr said as he opened the door and held his hand out for Ceus. "It's alright, they're gone for now."

"You sure?" Ceus said.

"As sure as I can be. Miyuki help me if I'm wrong." Sizz-lorr said as he took her hand and headed to the lower, less important rooms of Tallest Tower.

Dib drove in a fast fury to where his labs at Area 51 had been established as the Massive made their way to Earth. God I've never been so pissed off in my life. How does Gaz handle it 24/7? He thought as he pressed his boot the pedal, pushing it to the floor. His hands glowed with Meekrob energy as he drove down the gate, causing the watchmen to jump out of the way and salute him as he got out of his car, and headed to the guards who were on shift the night before. In less than 24 hours he had gone from hero of humanity who defeated a superior alien menace, to pawn of spirit shoe aliens to a scion for some rebels to the most angry man on the planet. He had what he had worked so hard for taken from him because of some guards who thought to hit the sauce instead of doing their job. He had been up since the early hours of the morning being begged by a Vortian to join their Resisty movement and to hear that this had happened was the exact last thing he would have wanted to hear. He walked over to the head guard who had to reported it to him and he stared him down, eyes narrowed much like his sister's and looked him in the eyes. "Just what the fuck do you think you were doing?"

"I'm sorry..." The guard panicked. He was used to seeing Gaz's rage but normally Dib was almost a complete opposite of his sister who had programmed training simulations and drones before the Massive came.

"No, I'm sorry." Dib said as blue sparks flew from his hand and he grabbed the guard's neck and threw him on the ground.

"DIB!" Gaz said as she walked onto the scene, ready to start her work reverse engineering anything that could be of use from the Massive. "What is going on?" She said with genuine fear, never having seen her brother so angry.

"These fucktards were partying and one of the Tallest came in and broke Zim free. They let a 7 foot 5 alien in a hat and jacket come in and take what I had worked so hard for! And you're asking me to stop? You'd be doing much worse." Dib yelled.

"You're right." Gaz looked over at the guards who were cowering. If Gaz had gotten in on the punishment, it was going to be a nightmare from hell. "But this isn't you. Anger is my thing. You're the savior of humanity now. You kind of have an image to uphold."

Dib took a few deep breaths and looked around. "Thanks Gaz."

"Besides, I'll handle the punishment and firings." Gaz said and with this the guards gulped. This could mean literal fire. "You just get to your labs and figure out where they are. They can't have gotten too far. The Massive is horribly crippled and there's sightings of fleeing Irkens around Saturn and Neptune."

"Yeah." Dib said as he punched a rock in front of the labs with his Meekrob powers, causing it to shatter into a million pieces. "Thank Gaz I did that to the rock and not you." He said as he headed to his office to figure everything out.

So how was that? Good? Bad? Long? OOC? Well sorry but think how you'd feel if everything you worked for was ruined by someone else's carelessness. You'd be furious. So yeah. I don't know how much I'll be updating on this before the spring but once work lets up I'll have more time to do a lot more than I am now. Things can be crazy. Anyway remember to read (well you just did) and to review. Ciao for now

otherrealmwriter

aka

Realm.


	9. Chapter 9

I don't own Invader Zim okay? I know I have a few projects to be working on but hey, I got it going on this one. Other than that I don't have much to say here so enough of this A/N, on with the fic!

Dib headed down to the security wing to watch the video of the previous night to see what happened and to know who to fry like an egg when Gaz was done with them. He knew he was going to have to revamp the security team if they were going to be that lax in their post operation procedures, but he needed to know what happened in the meantime while he was out. Opening the door to the security department, he found a pair of scared guards who had come in to start their shift in the morning after everything happened.

"We had no part of the lapse of security. We got off at 5 last night, before the sun even went down!" One of the guards panicked as he saw Dib's furious face.

"Don't worry, as long as you help me your jobs will still be intact." Dib said as he looked at the screens. "Now, can you get into the footage of last night? I can assume that this happened in the overnight hours when it was darker as there was no moon last night." He said

"Outside or inside?" The other guard asked meekly. After seeing the explosion at the last night's guards at the entrance way, he knew Dib was one not to be messed with.

"Both. He had to get to my labs to get to Zim, which the lack of security there was my fault, but at the same time, these guards aren't paid to party." Dib said as the guards pulled up the footage for him to view.

Dib watched the screen play, speeding it up slightly at some of the slower parts, starting intently at the image of the Tallest on the screen. So, there's only one of them. Last I knew there was two Tallest. One could be dead. Or injured. "Why would the Tallest come after Zim? They hated him and if they actually cared they would have tried to get him back YEARS ago." Dib said as he watched Purple move along and head to his labs.

"Maybe because Zim was the only Irken here on Earth?" One of the guards suggested them recoiled in horror.

"Interesting." Dib said as he turned to the guard. "What makes you think that?" He said as the guard looked at him nervously but began again.

"Well there was panic and chaos when their ship went down. Many of their former crew left. I mean isn't there rumors they're further in the solar system now?" Dib nodded. "So if they need help getting out of here and getting back to Irk or wherever, they would need the help of the only other Irken on the planet?"

"Not a bad theory." Dib said to himself. "But I need to follow this to get an idea where he took Zim."

"Probably somewhere out in the desert." The other guard, inspired by the other's courage said offering some ideas. "If the Tallest's main ship crashed in the desert, they would be likely to set up camp not too far from there if they got Zim out."

"You're right!" Dib said. "I've got to get a squad together to search the desert, but don't worry, with your insight, your jobs are safe, not to mention you will be promoted too! I've got to head to my labs to see what was done."

"Thank you Dib sir." The guard said as Dib got up and left the guard station.

Purple waved the hat back and forth as the sun started to rise across the desert. Summertime meant it was going to get hot fast and Red was in no state to handle extreme weather. Zim looked at him with a sad look on his face. "I'm sorry this happened my Tallest." Zim said.

"Meh, we got bigger problems to worry about." Red said. "So what do you think?"

"About what?" Zim asked confused.

"We need you to help us fix our escape pod and get out of here and to make sure Red doesn't die." Purple said.

"And what do you have to work with? What tools?" Zim said. Being kept prisoner for as long as he was had done a lot to his usual personality. It had made him calmer and more rational with less craziness.

Purple sighed. He wasn't expecting this. Looking back, he wasn't sure what he was expecting by rescuing Zim but this was certainly not it. Now that Zim was asking questions like this, the plan they had in their mind sounded more and more foolish by the second. Half-baked and realistically not going to solve their problems. Even if they did leave Earth, what was going to happen when they got to Irk in the first place? They were sure to be doing a Measuring ceremony right now as they were stuck here. No regard for if they were actually alive or not, just replace them because the Massive went down. Purple looked over at Red and saw that he was thinking much along the same lines. "Look Zim, I get what you're saying." He winced in pain. "But even before you were locked up you had been on this planet a long time. You must have some ideas on what we can use to improvise." Red saw Zim expressionless on his face. "I mean you told us about the rain thing and the solution you came up with paste." I NEVER would have thought I would be praising Zim on anything….. But here I am…. Red thought as he looked at Zim who cracked a smile at the praise received.

"Well maybe I have forgotten who I really am. I am ZIM after all." Zim said as he stretched out his fingers, cracking his knuckles when he heard a POP! From his back. "OW! Sitting in that tube for 20 years didn't do me any good!"

"Great, now I got two injured Irkens to look after." Purple said as he took the guard's shirt off and tossed it aside.

"Nah. I'm fine, it's nothing a little work won't solve." Zim said. "So where was the escape pod?" Zim said as Purple pointed towards a pinkish red spherical pod about 300 yards away. "I took Red here so he wouldn't be in the sun and affected so much and he'd have a place to rest without wildlife attacking him."

"Good." Zim said. "I'll go over and look at how damaged it is. Just stay here and keep Red safe."

"I was planning on it!" Purple sassed as he stuck his tongue out at Zim who stuck his back right at him.

Zim strolled along in the desert, feeling free for the first time in two decades. He could do whatever he wanted now, go wherever he wanted and was free to just move more than a few feet. It was magical. He saw pieces of the Massive all over the place, not knowing what part was what and noticed a few snack bags. Zim picked up a bag of cheese curls from Irk and put them in his mouth, savoring a taste he had not had for so long. While he looked at the wreckage along the way to see if he could indeed salvage anything, he felt a breeze blow by his face. Before he was captured and thrown in a laboratory, his base was in more temperate area than the desert but the movement of natural wind felt better on his skin than forced air conditioning ever did. Who are the real monsters? Us Irkens or the humans who kept me in captivity for so long. Kept to be tormented and questioned and just as a thing of mockery with nothing but old magazines to read. A fate worse than death! And that Dib human had the nerve to say those things about me. Well I am free now and I can bet his labs are in total chaos. He deserves nothing less. And his sense of accomplishment and all this hoorah he's getting will fade. Zim thought as he bent down to look at a motor that had crashed nearby mostly in tact

Dib looked in his lab and found everything pretty much in order, except for the obvious fact that Zim was gone. "I knew I should have put some sort of extra security in there so that I am the only one who can open it." Dib said as he bashed his head on the table in front of him. "I let the fact I had caught Zim blind sight me on actually keeping him in the place in the first place. "I'm such an idiot." Dib moaned.

"Yeah, you are. But Zim can't have gotten far." Gaz said as she walked into his lab.

"Gaz?" Dib asked.

"Yeah, me. Look I took care of the guards and handled everything with them. Let's just say reemployment is going to be a bitch if they can even get unemployment after that." She smiled. "But there is no way that Zim is gone entirely. The Massive is destroyed. If the Tallests are on Earth, they're hurt and not going anywhere fast. They seemed to be a team from what you said so one is not going to abandon another. Besides, even if they could, how in the hell would they get there? I am guessing the rescue of Zim is to get something together to leave. I don't know how long that will take but if you get the team together and stop giving yourself brain damage then you will be able to get Zim back and maybe 2 injured Tallests as well."

"You're so wise Gaz." Dib said as he hugged his sister, who pushed him back.

"You do remember the CIA and SOG wanted me for my tactical skills, which I only gained by playing so many games." Gaz said. "And since when did you get all huggy on me?" She asked repulsed.

"Since you made me think of things in better ways that I had before." Dib said "And since when did you know how the Irken society worked?"

"Because you would never shut up about it growing up." Gaz said. "I learned it despite not wanting to."

"Fair enough. Get me a squad, we're heading out into the desert." Dib said.

"Two. I'll lead one, you the other." Gaz said as Dib looked annoyed. "Cover more ground you idiot! There have been sightings of debris of the Massive hundreds of miles from here!"

"Thanks Gaz." Dib said as he headed upstairs, Gaz behind him rolling her eyes and shutting the door to his labs.

So how was that? Good? Bad? Short? Long? Let me know in a review. I always figured that Gaz would be a voice of reason because she sees through everyone's BS and doesn't put up with it. So if she was working with her brother more, she'd be that role. I don't have much else to say on that one here. I will try to update more but life can be nice or be busy. So remember to read (well you just did) and to review. Ciao for now

Otherrealmwriter

Aka

Realm


	10. Chapter 10

I don't own Invader Zim okay? I know it's taken me awhile to update this one, and I started other stories when I really didn't have an idea what I was doing with them, but hey, that's just my style. But you don't want me complaining about how I write, you want this story so enough of this A/N, on with the fic!

Sizz-lorr looked around, making sure Ceus was safe and scanned the tower hallways. Meekrob were in one of the supposed most protected places on Irk during one of the ceremonies with supposedly the highest security there was to be had. It was obvious to him that Meekrob was going to use the chaos of what had happened to take over Irk and their Empire. What they would do with it, he didn't know but he wasn't about to find out. And he wasn't going to let Ceus be hurt.

"What's going on?" Ceus asked as she panted to keep up with his pace.

"Safety." He said as he saw a boiler room and opened the door.

"Another maintenance room?" Ceus asked. "It's hot in here." She said as she waved her hand, fanning herself. "And why one so hot?"

"This isn't your typical maintenance room. It's to keep the climate control going through the whole tower. It goes both up to the Tallest's chambers and to the bottom where the Control Brains are." Sizz-lorr explained as he looked around, making sure no Meekrob was behind him. The whole of the Tallest Tower could be accessed secretly via the climate control systems that went through the whole building. Since there were many other tall Irkens for the Meekrob to go after, he hoped this would distract them enough for him to get Ceus away. Just what they were going to do, he hadn't worked that much out.

Ceus could tell that Sizz-lorr was thinking on the fly and looked at him confused. "Okay. I can get why you would hide in here. Not many would think to look in the maintenance access ports. But we can't stay here forever. Red and Purple are missing. The Massive is destroyed. The Empire is not in chaos yet, but it will be and it needs a Tallest. We were summoned because of our height because of that. We cannot do the people of Irk a disservice by hiding when everything is crumbling. It is our duty to stand tall and oversee the planet through this chaos so we can come out on top."

Sizz-lorr looked at Ceus and smiled. She had a point and he knew that as much as he hated how his past military attempts turned out and how he felt he let his men down in Meekrob, that was no reason to turn his back on all of Irk. They were the ones that helped him keep his beloved Shloogorgoh's in business. Competition on Foodcourtia was intense and the fact he had run that restaurant so well in such an environment made him proud. But he was nothing without his loyal help and the customers. "Fine. So what do we do from here?" Sizz-lorr said. "We can't save them you know."

Ceus quickly gulped but then strengthened her resolve. It was part of the reality that she was going to face if she was going to take over as Tallest. Her home needed leadership and she was one of the best to do it in this present time, "Regretfully yes." Ceus sighed. "But the planet needs stability. And for stability you need a leader. I guess since I am a little taller than you, that means me."

"I guess." Sizz-lorr said.

"As your soon to be leader, I want you to help get me to the Control Brains. They're the ones with the power to officially crown a Tallest. You can explain that once we get there what happened." Ceus said.

"Fine. Follow me." Sizz-lorr said as he started climbing down a ladder to the lower levels of the tower.

Back on Earth, Purple stood guard while Zim worked on the escape pod's components. So, it's come to this. Us trusting Zim to get the escape pod so we can go back to Irk and make something of what happened. Miyuki knows Meekrob's probably making a move as we speak. Purple scanned the horizon for signs of anything that might attack them, but as he could tell by the heat, it was now midday and most of the wildlife was hidden until the sun lowered. "It's so hot here."

"That's the desert for you." Zim sighed as he continued to work on the Escape Pod. "I don't know how I would have taken it if there wasn't air conditioning in the labs where Dib kept me prisoner." Zim growled as he attempted to turn a bolt to access a fusion reactor.

Purple looked from Red to Zim. Red seemed to be stable, which was the best they could hope for in this type of environment but it still wasn't good enough. They needed to get back to Irk where they could look after him and get him the best treatment that was needed.

"Pur?" Red asked weakly.

"Yeah Red?" Purple said looking over at his injured co-Tallest

"What will we be going back to?" Red asked.

"Huh?" Purple said confused. "Just what do you mean? We'll go back to Irk. Home. Snacks. Donuts."

"Yeah, perks we had as Tallest. But you know as the Massive went down, they sent the distress signal. Soon those who escaped will be getting back to the territory of the Empire. They'll be asking about us. If we aren't assumed dead. I'm sure they are doing a Measuring ceremony now as we speak." Red said.

"So, we'll thank whoever holds the spot for us and go back to ruling like we did." Purple said, not wanting Red to stress himself out when he was already still gravely injured.

"But we'll be blamed for wrecking the Massive. Irk was VERY proud of that as our capitol flagship. We won't get the job back. We'd be lucky if we're not locked up on Vort after this." Purple began to say something comforting about couches and Vort Dogs but Red cut him off. "We'd be experiments as it's our Military Research prison now."

"So?" Purple said, starting to get mad at Red's depression. "I guess we'll be leaders in exile for a while, wait for the new guy to fuck up and take it back from them. What would you rather have? Us to die here on this rock of stinky pig monkeys? We're Tallests Red and Purple. We've added so much to the Irken Empire with Operation Impending Doom II. We won't let something like this stop us."

"HIDE!" Zim yelled as he perked up his antenna and looked around. "I see some jeeps off in the distance. Humans like driving them in this terrain and that is what the guards at Dib's base used."

"SHIT!" Purple said as he crawled next to Red under the rock and held his breath.

"This isn't helping my recovery." Red said angered.

"Neither will be being trapped in a tube for 20 years." Zim said as he crawled next to Purple.

Gaz stepped off the jeep and looked around. So this is where the escape pod had crashed She thought as she looked at the sand in the ground. "Footprints." She said. "Pointy."

"Why did it have to be her?" Zim whispered.

"What do you mean?" Purple asked.

"That's Gaz. Dib's sister. And she is as smart as he is but any ego she has is well earned. She helped to train Dib to be more combat effective and planned a lot of the attack that was done in the first place. I cannot deny that Dib has much more intelligence than most humans if he could keep competing with me but that right there, Gaz, she is better than him at so much. She's not going to miss us."

"Fuck!" Red said a little too loud.

"Huh?" Gaz said as she looked to the guards.

"Sorry?" One of the search squad said.

"Page Dib." Gaz commanded. "Give him the coordinates as we have found the Tallest's escape pod. I can tell from the coloring and Irken writing. It looks pretty burned and damaged. They are likely injured themselves. They could not have gotten far. One, I think the purple one, may have been well enough to break Zim free but there were two Tallests. The wildlife would have been bound to find him if he was dead. There's pointy dots here with circles around them, meaning that one of the Tallests is around here recently. The more triangular ones are likely Zim's. I remember some of the footprints in the mud from Dib and mine's childhood. I want you to turn over the rocks and look. I doubt they are far."

"Yes mam!" The soldiers saluted as one got on the radio to page Dib and the rest split into teams and began to look for the Tallest and Zim.

"This is not good…. Not good…." Purple whimpered to himself, hoping that these soldiers would be as careless as the guards he had run into before were.

"This is beyond not good. We're fucked." Zim said.

Back in the maintenance passages of Tallest Tower, Sizz-lorr and Ceus made their way to where the Control Brains were kept. If Ceus wanted the job so badly, she was about to get it, but he also couldn't deny she had the ability to do so. Irk was a great Empire and only the greats could keep it going as long as strong as it has been. "This is it." Ceus said as she noticed a door to the Control Brain sanctuary.

"Who goes there?" The control brain said. "Speak."

"It is I, scientist Ceus and head of Shloogorgoh's Sizz-lorr. Both of us were summoned for a Measuring ceremony when the Massive went down and current Tallest Red and Purple where assumed dead. Normally we would not break the protocol of such an important event if it wasn't serious. But it is. Meekrob has attacked the ceremony and killed many of the candidates. Sizz-lorr made sure I was safe and took me here to see you to petition a request." Ceus explained standing fearless in front of the Control Brains, the most powerful force on Irk.

"Make me the Tallest until this emergency is over. If you want to do a proper ceremony and replace me when it is under control, fine. But until then, I need to take command to make sure that Irk keeps its independence and maybe even make Meekrob pay if the rumors are true." Ceus said.

"The rumors of a human whose genetic they tampered with was what was responsible for destroying the Massive?" The control brain asked.

"Yes. I see we cannot keep rumors from you either." Ceus said.

"Rumors travel faster than light." The control brain said. "Your request is granted."

"Thank you." Ceus said.

"Under one condition." The control brain said.

Uh oh…. I don't like where this is going….. Sizz-lorr thought.

"Yes my Control Brain." Ceus said.

"Sizz-lorr is your co-Tallest. He has shown great loyalty and bravery saving you and he is already pretty tall himself. Another mind with his skills and diplomatic connections, being Shloogorgoh's head manager will be invaluable at this time."

"Sizz-lorr?" Ceus asked.

Sizz-lorr looked down. This was what he did not want. But Ceus had a point. They did have a duty and he was not about to let Meekrob run his restaurant for him. "I guess. But I won't like it." He said.

"No one said you had to." The Control Brain replied. "Let us begin the reencoding."

So how was that? Good? Bad? Short? Long? Let me know in a review. I love seeing the response this has gotten and I cannot guarantee anyone's safety in this story, but that's the nature of these things. I'm sorry it took so long to update but hopefully this can give me more inspiration to build on more. So anyway, remember to read, well you just did and to review! Ciao for now

Otherrealmwriter

Aka

Realm


	11. Chapter 11

I don't own Invader Zim okay? I have had much more time lately with how things are so I can update more often. I don't have much to say here so enough of this A/N, on with the fic!

Zim placed his hand on Purple's mouth as Purple placed his hand on Red's. There was still a chance that somehow Gaz and Dib would think they were somewhere else, but Gaz had ordered the crew with her to search the rocks and under them. Luckily they started further away from where they were, causing some time. But the scene was tense. "Keep quiet." Zim whispered.

Dib drove up to where Gaz was before slamming on the brakes and shutting off the jeep. "You said you had found Zim?"

"Not yet, but most likely him and the Tallest are not that far. I have the team searching under the rocks even." Gaz said, observing the security team.

"Why?" Dib asked. "Irkens aren't very good at disguise."

"Well that's disguise." Gaz said rolling her eyes. "This is basic survival instinct here. I doubt they can handle the desert like it's nothing, especially if one of them is injured badly. They aren't all you." She said as she use a topographical map as a fan. "The middle of fucking summer they had to crash here of all the forsaken places on Earth. It's supposed to be 98 degrees today."

"Could have crashed about 100 miles west." Dib sighed. "They're calling for 116 in Death Valley today."

"Yeah... I'll count my blessings..." Gaz mumbled with anger. "Not all of us can have an innate ability to not overheat in those clothes. Was it because of those freaky powers or something?"

"I dunno." Dib said. "Never really notice hot or cold when I was dressed no matter how. I just always dressed with a trench coat and boots style because it looks cool."

"After 20 fucking years..." Gaz sighed. She was wearing combat boots, black cargo pants and a mauve short sleeved shirt.

"Oh you're one to talk. You've worn that necklace since we were kids!" Dib said as Gaz picked up a rock and threw it at him. "OW!"

"You know the reason for that." Gaz said.

"Yeah." Dib said rubbing the bruise that was left. It was Mom's she had gotten the Halloween before she was killed. Shouldn't have gone there I guess...

Under the rock where they were hiding, a snake had started to slither over Red who began to whimper. Purple hit him in a spot where he wasn't very injured and whispered angerly "Quiet."

Zim had turned over to see what was causing Red to whimper to see that there was a Western Diamondback Rattlesnake slithering over them. Thinking fast, he grabbed it and threw it towards Dib.

"Zim!" Purple gasped in an amazed whisper. "Nice idea."

"That snake is poisonous if it bites and they can get agitated easily." Zim said. "Maybe if it bites Dib, they'll at least have to go back to the base to get treatment. I am sure they can get the anti-venom there. He likely won't die but at the same time, that'll give us time to get out of here or clean our tracks."

"How did you know it's not venomous to us though?" Red asked.

"I didn't. And I don't know if it is or isn't. Just saw a chance." Zim said.

At this, Dib felt the snake on his back. "AHHHHHHHHHHH! Get it off!" He said as he beat around, using his Meekrob powers to try and get at it, scaring the snake.

"Calm down! You agitate that thing, it'll bite you!" Gaz said as she pulled a bowie knife from her side. "I'll stab it in the head and it'll be dead and we can identify it."

"Yeah and you'll stab me too!" Dib said as he flailed around.

"God, you took down a whole alien race with superior technology than us and you're scared of a snake?" She asked, patting him down, inadvertently agitating it further.

"A venomous snake that my sister with an anger problem wants to stab while it's on me! YEAHHOUCHH! It bit me!" Dib said "On the butt!" He felt his hands start to tingle and vision blur.

"Over here." Gaz said laying him in the back of the jeep. "Back to the base guys. Page the medical team and get some anti-venom on the ready." She stabbed the snake and placed it in the seat behind her. "Don't touch it if you don't want another bite" She ordered Dib "They can still bite for awhile after death."

Zim looked out from under the rock when he was sure the rest of the crew had gone away and crawled out from under the rock. "We got some time. I'd say about 12-36 hours at most. They'll want to make sure the 'greatest person ever to live'" Zim mocked with disdain "Makes it through this. Like I said, it's not lethal but it'll put them off our backs for a short period of time."

"What do you need Zim?" Purple asked.

"Get a stretcher for Red together out of what you can find. We're moving away from here and I am going to try to find a way to cover our tracks with the escape pod or something. We won't get far. Probably not off the planet but it'll be far away from the crash site."

"I still am not used to the idea of Zim ordering us around." Red moaned.

"Neither am I, but it's our only hope." Purple sighed.

Gaz had pressed the pedal to the floor of the jeep driving back to the base, knowing that while Dib had a good chance to live, it was dependent on how fast he got the anitvenom he needed. She knew with the nature of the base, they had what he would need, but that indeed there was a very likely, almost certain possibility that Zim and the Tallest were there. Most likely Zim as he would have had a better chance to know what rattlesnakes could do. Why Zim didn't just try something like that back before Dib caught him is beyond me, but then again being cooped up for 20 years may have made that idiot rational Gaz thought as she drove through the gate to find that indeed a medical team was waiting.

"What's the status?" One of the doctors said as she picked Dib up in a fireman carry and placed him on the gurney.

"Snakebite. I killed the thing that did it. It's in the back of the jeep and looks like a western diamondback rattlesnake. Get the anti-venom and get the treatment started stat." Gaz ordered as another doctor cautiously picked up the dead snake to confirm the identification.

"Gaz..." Dib said weakly.

"You'll be fine. Once they get that anti-venom in you, you'll be back to be an obsessive big headed dork with ego issues now." Gaz said.

"It won't be instantaneous Ms. Membrane." The doctor said. "He will have a painful recovery and we will be keeping an eye on him for the next few days for any sepsis."

"Well duh." Gaz said. "I'm not stupid. I'm just trying to provide moral support to my brother."

The doctors looked at each other confused. "Moral support?" They asked.

"Gaz is like that." Dib said weakly with a smile. "I love you too sis."

"You're not dying, they're hooking up the IV. Stop acting like you are. I won't hit you for that, but don't get all mushy on me either." Gaz said. "I'll take over the hunt for Zim."

"GAZ!" Dib yelled weakly, trying to sit up while the doctors pushed him down.

"You need to rest Dr. Membrane. Your sister got you here just in time. Interesting place for a snake bit. Something really bit you on the butt." The doctor laughed.

"Shut up." Dib said.

"Don't worry, I'll keep you briefed but if what I am thinking is correct, that the snake was a deliberate attack and while those Irkens may think they got time to run, they won't on my watch." Gaz said. "Only I get to cause you doom." She said as she shut the door behind her.

"You two have an..." The doctor treating Dib's bite said, pausing to find the right word. "...unusual dynamic."

"I know." Dib sighed.

Gaz headed out of the medical wing and headed back to the squad who had followed her back. They were going to want to know Dib's condition and prognosis. "Is he okay Ms. Membrane?" One of the squad asked.

"He'll be fine. He's been given anti-venom and will be under observation for a few days but he'll pull through. He's my brother. I made him tough. But to the bigger issue at hand. That was no random snake. If Dib was just being careless and just stepped on one, he probably wouldn't have noticed a thing, the boots he likes to wear are very thick and despite the guy being six feet two inches tall, he likes ones that have a few inches in the soles." Gaz explained.

"So?" One of the guards asked.

"So? By where the snake landed, the fact that there was nowhere where the snake could have fallen from when it hit him, and the footprints in the area, and the fact we were searching the area we were throughly, I am lead to believe it was a desperate move by one of the Irkens we are looking for to slow us down. I will not let them though. We are heading back out to the same location and going to get those Irkens before they get off this planet." Gaz said looking over at the soldier who dared question her.

"They broke into our base, freed our prisoner. Two of the suspected Irkens are the leaders of the Empire we just brought down. If they get off Earth, they could bring worse forces back here." Gaz said.

"But wasn't the Armada the capitol ship of the Irken Empire?" One of the more tired guards asked.

"An Empire as big as theirs was, wouldn't have a back up? Wouldn't want vengeance for what had happened to their leaders and ego? While Earth was defending itself, humans are seen as a stupid race to the rest of the universe. This would be a great insult to their Empire. We may have called down more. If we have their leaders, we have a bargaining chip on keeping our freedom. Now you see why I am the one leading this project and you are the ones looking." Gaz said. "Any questions?"

"No mam..." The guard said.

"Good. Now back to the scene. It has been about 90 minutes since we had to evac. The Escape pod was pretty badly damaged so there is no way it could be fixed in that time under reasonable assumption, even with advanced technology. If we move quickly, we may catch them in the open." Gaz explained.

"Yes mam!" The men saluted as they headed back into the desert.

So how was that? Good? Bad? Short? Long? Let me know in a review. Like I said before, I imagine being in the situation Zim was, he'd cool off a lot. 20 years gives you a lot of time to think. I also imagine that Gaz would be very good tactically because of all the games she had played and can apply it to the situation at hand. I don't have much else to say here, so remember to read (well you just did) and to review. Ciao for now,

otherrealmwriter

aka

Realm


	12. Chapter 12

I don't own Invader Zim okay? Since my first two pet IZ fics are finished now (Taboo and Minutes to Midnight) I am working on my new pet Zim projects of this one and Journey to a New World. But you didn't come here to know that, just to read the fic. So enough of this A/N, on with the fic!

"Reencoding finished. Carry on with your duties Tallests Ceus and Sizz-lorr." The Control Brains said. "Tallest Tower is yours."

"Nice." Sizz-lorr said sarcastically.

"No need for an attitude like that." Ceus said as she headed towards the door to head to the command room in Tallest Tower. "You and I can reign in this empire, eliminate the Meekrob threat and rebuild it to something that we can be proud of. That someone with your former training doesn't have to run and hide in food service. And I am sure that the throne room is way better than the manager's office at Shloogoroth's."

"Well, maybe but it was mine. And I didn't think I was running from my past. I had a job, I was good at it." Sizz-lorr said.

"Or what you were running from made you good at it." Ceus said.

She's nagging me like a wife who keeps pushing her husband to do better...Sizz-lorr thought. "Well you are right we need to get to the throne room and get this mess sorted out."

"Glad to see you are so agreeable my co-Tallest." Ceus smiled.

"Maybe with you..." Sizz-lorr moaned.

Dib lay in the medical wing in a dazed state. The anti venom had been given quickly but he was also placed under a morphine drip and antibiotic at the same time to make sure that he healed and there was no infection that came from the bite. He stare up at the ceiling, thinking of all that had happened in the past week that led him to be laying in a hospital bed, staring at the white, very white ceiling with bright florescent lights flashed above him. I save the planet and it's a fucking snakebite that has me in the hospital. He thought as the nurse came in and checked on him. "Vitals look okay, treatment moving along as to be expected."

"When am I getting out of here?" Dib yelled.

"We we are sure there is no sign of the venom left in the body and infection is kept at bay." The nurse said.

"But Zim and the Tallest are still out there!" He pleaded.

"Didn't your sister head out back to where you had the accident in the first place?" She asked.

"It wasn't an accident. It was an attack on me!" Dib yelled sitting up.

"We may need to up your morphine. Or put you on a different pain killer. Some people react aggressively against others when exposed to opiates." The nurse noted on the chart. "Ibprophne is not as powerful and would need a higher dose but we cannot have you heading out too soon."

"I JUST TOOK DOWN THE FUCKING MASSIVE A FEW DAYS AGO! I WAS ABLE TO RUN AROUND THE VACCUM OF SPACE WITHOUT A SUIT!" Dib yelled sitting up. "I would think these powers that allowed me to do that, would allow me to get over a fucking snakebite."

"I think that is what may be causing the morphine to have a negative reaction." A familiar voice said from the doorway.

"Oh fuck me up the ass. I am thirty fucking two years old. This victory and mission is MINE!" Dib yelled blasting sparks at the doorway where an older man with pointy grey hair came though.

"Now now son, I do not recall raising you to have such a potty mouth." Professor Membrane said.

"Funny because I strictly recall me doing a lot of my own rasing." Dib sulked ignoring his dad.

"I would not take too much offense to what he says Professor Membrane sir." The nurse said. "From what I can tell this is all from an interaction between what he has dubbed his 'Meekrob powers' and the morphine."

"Very possible but there is an old Latin saying I was told after I showed up to my required humanities class drunk in college that the professor told me when I tried to backtrack what I said so he wouldn't fail me." Dib looked up at his father shocked. Dad actually got drunk in college? I mean it was like the 80s or so, but come on.

"You, got drunk in college? You Dad?" Dib laughed. "Well your hair would have fit right in with some of that weird 80s Flock of Seagulls crap."

"I did. It's only natural for one who had just legally become an adult and had all parental supervision pretty much terminated to fully indulge in the legal vices they are now exposed to. But back to the story it was 'in vino vertias' which translates to 'in wine there is truth'. To cut the philosophical crap, it means when one is intoxicated they will let lose with their true thoughts as inhibition is lowered. And in my case, the professor passed me with a C because he admired my drunken courage. That and being a pastor's son who absolutely hated the upbringing I had, he decided to cut me some slack." Dib looked over at his dad surprised he finally revealed this much about his family.

"Ummmmmmmmm this is all stuff you NEVER told me! I mean I would have liked to know more about the Membrane family heritage and get closer to you before you retired!" Dib said looking at his father shocked. "I could have DIED fighting the Massive."

"I had a feeling you wouldn't." Professor Membrane said taking the chart from the nurse looking it over. "Be thankful the boy's mother isn't alive. She'd be watching him day and night and her being a skilled doctor she would oversee this whole thing with no one coming between the two."

"JUST WHAT IS GOING ON?" Dib said as the nurse and Professor Membrane looked at him. "I mean I get bit by a snake, I am not going to die from it but this mix of drugs and powers is pissing me off, and you come and start opening up about your 20s and mom and the grandfather I never met now. After all these years, now! Who let you in here, this is my operation."

"Well Gaz called me, thinking I could handle this better than the standard staff. She took over pursuit of Zim when you could not anymore. Trust me, I do not want to be those Irkens right now." Professor Membrane said as he looked over the notes. "Those aliens have messed with his DNA so I will need a recent sample to see if there is any interactions to the treatments."

"He did experience the symptoms typical of being bitten by a Western Diamondback Rattlesnake upon arrival." The nurse explained.

"I see that here." Professor Membrane said as he pulled one of Dib's hairs out.

"OW! Dad!" He said.

"I needed a sample. And I am getting older now son. And in age I realize what I missed out on and cannot fully get it back, but can spend some time with my son, now that he is the Greatest Person Ever to Live and a man. I am so proud of you." Professor Membrane said twirling Dib's hair in his fingers.

Dib paused and looked at his father speechless. That phrase was something he had sought so desperately for in his life. He chased the paranormal to his dismissal until he caught Zim, till he had proven ghosts real and the Lake Spooky Monster, along with many other creatures that apparently lived in that lake, to be fact. All those got a few 'good jobs' but this was something new. "You're proud of me?" He paused.

"Yes son, I am proud of you Dib. You've done better than I had ever hoped for. Took risks and chances that never would have been seen before despite the adversity against you, some that I regret to have had a hand in. And as touching as this is, I need to do some studies to make sure we find a treatment for you that won't have you ripping innocent nurses' faces off because you are frustrated you are not on the front lines. You are a fighter son, but part of leading is knowing when to delegate. And you delegated well with Gaz."

"She just took over. I know better than to piss her off." Dib said.

"Well I am off. I should have this cracked by sunset." Professor Membrane smiled.

"Are you okay Doctor Membrane?" The nurse looked at Dib.

"Yeah...yeah...that was just kind of unexpected is all..." He said.

"Good because god knows it's time for your second round of anti venom and I don't want you attacking me." She said as she changed the bags on the IV drips.

Zim groaned in futility as he tried to get the engines on the escape pod to start up. It did not need to move far, just enough to get them time. He didn't even need it to leave the Earth's atmosphere, just to go somewhere else. Somewhere where Gaz would not be looking for them. "Any luck with getting Red on a stretcher Purple?" Zim sighed.

"Yeah. I found a few branches and an abandoned tent where those dried out human husks were." Purple said pointing to a sunbaked van where a few people were lying, dead from a mixture of dehydration and excessive drinking and drug use. Zim looked over at the vehicle and while it looked like a 25 year old beat up minivan that the people had likely just gotten from their family, Zim saw it as their chance to get away.

"Did you see any of the guards from the base looking at that thing before you used it for the stretcher?" He asked.

"Not really, they seemed to just laugh at it as it seemed to be a comical fate for humans in the desert." Purple said.

"And they laughed at those who tried to get into Area 51 a few years ago on an internet joke..." Zim said as he tapped his foot. "New plan. I may be able to get an old internal combustion engine to run off the fuel rod from the escape pod better than I can get the pod back running. I mean an escape pod is just that, for escape. Once you've escaped, you can't expect much more from it." With this Zim pulled a green nuclear fuel rod from the escape pod and then followed Purple to the van and smiled. "This, I can get us running on. Right now, we just have to get to safety. I know a bit about this smelly dirt planet. I am an Invader after all. I know what is harmful to us and what gives humans a hard time." He found the gas tank for the van, pulled it out with a laser wrench he had scavenged from the pod and replaced the tank with the nuclear fuel and linked it up. Turning the key, he found the ignition sparked to life. "And we're going." Zim threw the body in the driver seat out and got in. "Clear that corpse out of here, put Red in its place and we are gone."

Purple paused but shrugged knowing there wasn't much use in arguing and threw the corpse out and placed Red on the second row of seats and buckled him in. Once he was comfortable with the rough accommodations, he got in the passenger seat and buckled himself in. "I guess we're off."

"Good. And with the escape pod's mighty Irken perpetual fuel rods, this thing will never need to stop." Zim smiled. But I have no clue where to go to. "We're heading north right now. Up to this place called Devil's Tower in Wyoming. There isn't a lot of people between here and there if I follow the right routes."

"Why there?" Purple asked.

"Better place for a distress signal." Zim said. At least if some of Dib's stories of sightings are correct. He said similar things about phenomenon in Sedona Arizona but that involves passing too many humans...

"I hope this works Zim." Purple said.

"Me too." Zim said.

So how was that? Good? Bad? Short? Long? Let me know in a review. I know it's been awhile since I updated but I have more time on my hands now and will update this more often than I did before at least. And with the whole Membrane family getting on the case in one form or another, things are about to get really heated. And Irken politics and the Resisty will show up later too, don't think I forgot about that. Anyway remember to read (well you just did) and to review. Ciao for now,

otherrealmwriter

aka

Realm.


	13. Chapter 13

I don't own Invader Zim okay? I know it's been a little while since I updated this one, maybe not as bad as some of my other ones but still, it's been awhile. Anyway, enough of this A/N, on with the fic!

Zim started the car and began to drive through the desert, jumping over rocks, bumps and various tumbleweed and mesquite tree leftovers. This car had seen a lot and he knew it could take it. "Okay is there a map or something here? Did one of those fools leave a smart phone?"

"A what?" Purple asked.

"A rectangular thing that has a touch screen and works a lot like a computer. Most all of them have this thing called 'Google Maps' on there. Look up Devil's Tower Wyoming." Zim ordered.

"Well there is that Sedona place." Purple said. "It says it's only about a 6 hour drive from here. One of the crew members mentioned needing to leave early to drive 9 hours into Wyoming." Thinking that Red didn't have much time, he wanted to make sure Zim did whatever he was planning to do as soon as possible so that Red could get the help he needed.

"Look at the route. It's to the south. And I know for a fact that Las Vegas is south of here." Zim sighed.

"And just what is that?" Purple asked irritated. "In case you have forgotten Zim, we don't know as much about this area or planet as you do."

"Well you may have gotten a glimpse of it on the way down maybe. If you recall a big town with a gold building, black pyramid, and a ton of other human structures, think for a second of what that means. More people to notice us. More chances for all three of us to end up in that hell hole I was in." Zim scowled. "But between Sedona and Devil's Tower, Dib described some phenomena called vortexes that based on what he described, I think we can use to harness and send a distress signal to any factions that may be loyal to the Irken Empire. Or just call some Greys for a lift. They don't care."

"But they are foul mouthed perverts who like rectal probing whatever species they get ahold of." Red moaned from the back.

"Hmmmmm, risk of rectal probe or being carved up on a cold dissection table?" Zim said as he took the smart phone from Purple and looked at the directions given. "Wow, this route has us passing near the Bonneville Salt Flats. That might shave some time off. Especially now that this thing has nuclear power."

"What?" Red asked.

"It's a local feature that the humans bragged about racing cars on. That's fossil fueled internal combustion engines. This may not have all the design of the cars they talked about but the power source will help us overcome that issue. Like I told you guys, I had been trapped here for 20 years and had nothing to do but observe and read old magazines. Now it's time to put that waste of my life to use with my Invader training to get off this Miyuki forsaken rock. Sometimes the shortest route is not the best, especially if we are trying to be discreet. If we stay on the interstate system then we may not be too noticed when we get to the few big cities we have to pass..." Zim mused.

Purple looked at Red, then to Zim and out the window to the desert landscape that they passed by, wondering just what was going on. Zim was never this calm and rational. He couldn't argue Zim's points, even if some of them like driving on a busy human roadway in what was bound to be noticed did scare him. Then again Zim had reported that humans could be oblivious and sometimes the best way to hide from them was to not to try to hide but just follow the crowd. They often did not notice things like that. I won't be relaxed until we are off this planet. He thought as he looked at the smart phone that was the map and saw the estimated time they would need to get there. Fifteen hours. Just too much time to try and get a distress signal out. But it's the only chance we got. Purple sighed as he looked out the window, tapping it in amusement.

Gaz looked around the scene of the crash and where Dib was bit. The escape pod was in sight. No dust storms blew in, so there would be some prints and if they were recent, that would lead her to where the Tallest and Zim were hiding. They could not take her down. She was going to get them back and make sure that Dib got the justice he deserved. If there was one skill she had developed from gaming was that she could notice subtle changes in an area that could be a clue to something bigger. In the corner of her eye when she was first at the site with Dib, she had remembered an old broken down minivan off in the distance with a few corpses in it. People often got lost and died in the desert from dehydration or drug overdose all the time. An old beat up van was not on the top of her priority list at the time. However, it might have still ran. Zim wasn't completely hopeless, he knew enough and he seemed to calm down from what Dib would rant about when he had come back from his labs and Zim had successfully probed into his motives You should not have left him with old psychology books and magazines if you didn't want Zim to know how to mind fuck you bro... Gaz mused as she looked over the desert landscape. Scanning the area, she noticed the minivan gone, but a pile of corpses left behind. "Men!" She yelled.

"Yes Mi Lady!" One of the guards saluted in terror.

"Over there was a minivan before we left. I don't expect that many of you would have seen it. Did anyone get the license plate?" The men shrugged. "I thought not. Well these corpses were left. Take them and look for ID. This will tell us who these people were and we can try to find a matching vehicle in their and their relative's registration. See if any missing persons reports were filed for these people. Gaz headed to the escape pod and noticed some recent changes. "Looks like the fuel that was in the escape pod may have been taken. I'll need a scientific team to determine what it was. We might notice traces of it." With this, Gaz pulled out her satellite phone and called Dib. She figured he would at least appreciate an update.

Back in the base's medical bay, Dib lay back as the anti venom, antibiotic and painkiller cocktail flew through his veins. He had calmed down a little since his father started work on examining his DNA to see if there was a better therapy that could be done and Gaz was out in the field, on the hunt for Zim and what could be assumed the Tallest. "Dad was right," He told himself as he focused on the television on the other side of the room, trying to turn his thoughts from the frustration he felt. He ignored the news as his interviews had been broadcast so many times he couldn't stand it anymore. He settled on a channel that played nothing but old cowboy movies, wanting to have a break from space for a while, having been there recently himself and lay back and maybe sleep. As he started to get comfortable, a ringing was heard from his pocket. "What the?" He asked as he pulled out his phone.

"What a way to address someone calling you." Gaz said. "I have a field report."

"You caught them?" Dib smiled.

"Not yet. But there may be ways we can do it fairly easily. There was a minivan filled with dried out corpses that most of us didn't pay much attention to. I was one of the few that knew that thing was there. But we took the corpses for study."

"Okay. Why would we need to study them if they were dead before the Massive attack?" Dib asked confused as Gaz sighed.

"Because I suspect that Zim somehow took the fuel from the Escape Pod and took that minivan and are headed somewhere to get a message out. Obviously they can't escape the atmosphere in a 25 year old run down piece of shit minivan anyway. No thrusters or anything that could enable that was taken from the pod, just the fuel."

"How did you know where the fuel was?" Dib asked.

"I learned Irken from all the times I had to save you from Zim's base as a kid and from all your studying of him." Gaz said. "But what we will do the corpses is some classic CSI digging. Look at the IDs, see what was registered to them, and their family members as well. See if any missing persons reports in the area were filed mentioning a car that matches. You know, basic detective work. Now I do need from you, where in the hell would they go to get their signal out, so we can keep an eye on the area."

Dib smiled at the fact his sister was asking him for his help and expertise. His family respecting his intelligence and knowledge was something he had waited forever for. "Well there are a few places I can think of west of the Rockies that would have a few spots. There's the whole vortex thing in Sedona. People get "good vibes" off it but it could be an interdimensional portal or just some sort of wormhole that people are picking the vibes off of. And there's been a lot of alien sightings in that area."

"Okay." Gaz said. "So I'll send a few agents to Sedona."

"But that's not the only one and I am only guessing with the Sedona vibes thing on that is what it is. I was thinking of studying that while I was in the area but I also don't know how well some of those new age hippies there will take to it. We're dealing with spirituality there to them, not astrobiological extraterrestrial life or cryptozoological life forms." Dib said.

"A Saucer Moron would say you committed a nasty foul by destroying the Massive and affected their spirituality." Gaz sighed. "If you need to study something and want to do Sedona and crack that fine. I say the new age hippies might be mad you kill their business. I was there once while driving around Arizona. 7 bucks for a sausage biscuit at their McMeaties. Everything in that town is so overpriced because of how profitable that 'mysterious vortex' is. Who knows, scientifically explaining it you can make that town as affordable as every other place in Arizona besides Phoenix or upscale sides of Tucson."

"Since when did you know a lot about Arizona real estate?"

"Since I was looking for a state to start my game production company and Arizona's tax rates on businesses are cheap." Gaz said.

"Well there's tons of businesses in Vegas for that same reason." Dib said, trying to convince Gaz to not move too far way.

She sighed. " No offense Dib but I didn't spend four years of college learning programming and design to be your sidekick. Yes this pay is good at this job and I am good at it, but I have like 50 more years to live and I would like to do something of my own. I am not being attached to you or Dad's name. My Membrane family legacy will be my own. Got it?" She said.

"Got it." Dib said. "Well, there's Roswell but honestly that is just because of the crash there... Gravity Falls Oregon would be too wooded to get a good signal out..."

"If we're going on that route, why not Devil's Tower?" Gaz said sarcastically.

"Why not! Sure it was the site of the visit in that Close Encounters movie..." Dib began as Gaz growled.

"You spent the whole first grade year watching that movie. I still have nightmares about those tones." Gaz growled. "But if you want to try it, fuck it. Why not. I'll get ahold of the highway patrol and state police of all the neighboring states and such an tell them what to look out for. A nuclear powered minivan should be pretty easy to spot. Well sleep you bastard."

"Love you too Gaz." Dib sighed as he hung up and laid back.

"So, you have a few locations those Irken scum may be heading to. You know with the Resisty's help, we can scan thousands of miles in a heartbeat." a Vortian said from the foot of his bed.

"AHHHHHH! Lord Nar!" Dib yelled. "Just what are you doing here?"

"Seeing if you thought about our offer yet." He smiled as he flipped through the channels on the TV. "Nothing good on..."

So how was that? Good? Bad? Short? Long? Let me know in a review. Yes, I used real places in the west with paranormal connections. Yes it is nearly 7 bucks for a sausage biscuit meal at Mcdonald's in Sedona. Arizona isn't that expensive as long as you aren't in posh areas of Phoenix or Tucson and they have great business tax rates, like Nevada does. So that's some fun IRL facts in this story too. Other than that, remember to read (well you just did) and to review. Ciao for now,

otherrealmwriter

aka

Realm.


	14. Chapter 14

I don't own Invader Zim okay? If you don't know that by chapter 14, I feel sorry for you. Anyway, I know it took a little while for me to update but here it is. Don't have much else to say, but enough of this A/N, on with the fic!

Dib rolled his eyes at Lord Nar. This was the last thing he really wanted to get involved in, an intergalactic power vacuum that would not leave him alone. He saved the earth and was recovering from a rattlesnake bite too. Could the powers that be just let him lie in bed and watch reruns of shows as old as his father in peace? His girlfriend was bound to be worried about him if Gaz hadn't told her where he was, and he honestly doubted if she even knew her contact information. He had gone through girlfriends rather quickly lately. He had achieved his life goal and that was that. Or is it? Are you going to be happy just catching Zim and bringing them back for whatever…? Lord Nar sat entranced by the black and white western that was on the television, fascinated by the old show. He was right, he does have the technologies to scan for Zim and the Tallest much better than we could…. Dib paused again. No. No. You do not need to get involved in their wars! Just get Zim and the Tallest back to the base.

"I mean to ask you, just what will you do when you catch Zim and his leaders?" Lord Nar said turning to Dib.

"What?" Dib asked startled at his question.

"I mean there has to be some reason you and your team are all up in arms about this." Lord Nar said. He knew he had to prod Dib in just the right ways to convince him to help them out in the end. Lord Nar saw his fighting skills and knew that Dib was just what they would need to keep Meekrob from taking over their planets. They were a tougher enemy to fight than the Irken Empire. Obviously, being made of pure energy, the Meekrob could not be harmed easily. You would need to have something disrupt their energy essences and that would be hard to come up with. Life forms of physical matter could not destroy them in hand to hand close quarters combat. Dib had powers from them. It would be like fighting fire with fire. Lord Nar needed him and possibly his team if he was going to keep the Resisty free.

"Why do you care?" Dib snapped. "Why do you need me? The Irken Empire is in ruins. You could easily take back what is yours."

"You'd think so." Lord Nar said. "However the people that gave you your fantastic powers are the Irken's greatest rival. You don't think that they wouldn't use this opening to their advantage? And by taking the Irken Empire, they take the Resisty's homes? They, the Irkens and the Meekrob, are not that different. They want power. Lots of it. Kind of what all races who want to conquer the universe want." Dib looked up at Lord Nar, showing his reasoning wasn't good enough for him. "So I ask again, what will you do when Zim and the Tallest are captured?"

"I dunno…." Dib said. "I guess I never really thought about that. I'd have to talk to Gaz about the ramifications, but I could experiment on all of them. See what technologies they have that could benefit Earth."

"Okay so you saved your home and will commit technological espionage with your captives." Lord Nar said. "And?"

"And what?" Dib asked.

"Well you are 32 Earth years old. Humans live on an average of 85 Earth years. Most likely with these powers that will be even longer. Some humans already live well into their hundreds. You could be 150. And your peak moment will be at the tender young age of 32. Kind of sad isn't it?"

"Will you shut up?" Dib yelled. He was already injured and had that notion that his life had peaked at 32 in his mind and it was not something he wanted to face, especially not with a goat horned alien trying to guilt trip him into helping them fight their war. He was done with that. "Besides it's what humans do when we defeat someone with greater technology than ours. We steal it."

"So barbaric." Lord Nar teased.

"Well we'd never have gotten into space in the 20th century if the US and Soviet Union hadn't kidnapped the Nazi scientists. You really should read up on World War 2 man. Shows just what humans can do to each other if they aren't afraid of getting nuked into oblivion like that one game Gaz likes to play…." Dib mused.

"I may do so." Lord Nar said. "However, I will help you with your quest, even if you do not decide to join us." He gave Dib what looked like a smartwatch but knowing where it came from, he could tell it was far more advanced than any of the modern ones, developed only a few years earlier could ever hope to be. "Once you have found the vehicle that they are traveling in, contact me. I can use our ship's scanning technologies to find it, catch it and bring it back. Us helping you this way won't be as big a shock as your entire planet now knows they are not alone in the universe." Lord Nar said.

"Fine." Dib said as he saw Lord Nar teleport out of the hospital room and rolled over sighing. Just as soon as he thought his fight to protect Earth from the Irken empire was over, new things happen and more battles will need to be fought. Looking at his phone, he thought of calling Gaz and wondering what her mind would think of when it came to just how other empires would react to Earth being the one the Irken Empire fell on and if those other races would want them as well. No, she's too busy leading the group to find Zim and the Tallest anyway…. Dib mused in his head. He wanted to put the encounter with Lord Nar behind him. Just sit back, enjoy the TV and the floating feeling he got when the mixture of antibiotics and pain killers with a side of anti-venom was flowing through his veins. I could get used to this feeling…. Dib thought for a second. No, no, that's how addictions start. You don't need to fall into that. Although you could easily. If what the aliens keep saying, you've peaked at 32. Way to go, 50 plus more years of having your greatest accomplishment be behind you. No one would wonder why you're addicted to it….NO! You don't need to be thinking like that! Knowing there was only one person who really got him to understand his struggles, and knowing she would be furious he was calling her while she was working on something for him, Dib called Gaz.

"What is it idiot?" Gaz sighed. "Look we don't have them yet; we are working on the van reports here! Do you know how many 25-year-old shitbox minivans there are in the state of Nevada alone? Not to mention they could have been out of state too! Get off my case!"

"Well do you have a make and model range? Or something I can send to someone else?" Dib asked.

"Well, it was a late 90s minivan, that's all I know. It reminded me of ones that I saw those soccer mom brats have growing up. In fact, it had the soccer ball from back then still on there kind of faded. Why? Who are you replacing me with?"

"You hear of the Vortians?" Dib asked.

"I remember you mentioning they were former allies of Irk then they were conquered. Why?" Gaz said.

"Well one of them can help us find and bring back Zim and the Tallest if we had the make and model of the car." Dib said.

"Well send him just google image searches of late 90s minivans and tell them about the faded sticker in the back until I have more. It's hard work getting through all these DMV records!" Gaz said.

"I'll do that." Dib said. Then the other question on his mind popped in. "What should we do with them?"

"When we catch them?" Gaz asked. "Well I want 5 minutes alone, no cameras with them."

"What do you have against them?" Dib asked.

"None of your business." Gaz said. "But what were you thinking?"

"That's just it. I don't know. Obviously get their technological information and try and use it for humanity but what then? Do I kill them? Do we keep them hostage for god knows how long? And if we kill them…."

"You may incite more alien wars, or at least with factions loyal to the Irken empire." Gaz said. "Possibly but you'd have something they would want, the Tallest. Zim, who cares. But at the same time you beat the Massive. They will know how much that means. They won't be so hot to attack. And I wouldn't slack off your training and keeping your skills up."

"Because of that?" Dib said.

"Because of that. Precisely." Gaz said as she searched through databases and police reports. "You protected Earth but marked it as well. We know they're out there and they know what we can do. You can never stop being the protector now. Take the Irken technologies and make them so we have a Space Force to defend ourselves as you can easily explain why we need it now."

"Has my life peaked?" Dib asked the other question that Gaz would know how to answer.

"Fuck no. If you follow my guidance you have a long life ahead of you to keeping this planet safe. And I can't imagine that alien politics and strategic defense would be boring. Every day won't be a take down the Massive day, but by god, your life will NEVER ever be boring. And why would you want boring anyway?" Gaz said as she came across a few promising reports of missing persons and vehicles out of California. "Look I think that medication cocktail they have you on is messing with your mind. I wouldn't think that far ahead right now. But yeah. You got yourself a lifelong job of protecting the planet. Something I thought you liked doing."

"Yeah. You got some points there Gaz." Dib sighed as he hung up. "FUCK!" He yelled. "It never ends and she's right, it will never end. We are indeed marked. Fuck! There's just no winning at this is there?" No Dib thought as a response to his own question. But you have to now play the game like generals in war do. You got a group with better technology and insight into your enemy than you have begging you to be their ally, their savior, their defender. They're going to help you find Zim and the others. And Gaz is right, your life will never, ever be boring, and yes, she's right, who would want that? With this revelation, Dib looked up pictures of late 90s minivans and saved them to the coms device that Lord Nar gave him. "Well here goes nothing." Dib said initiating a call.

"Dib! Hearing from you so soon?" Lord Nar smiled.

"Look, my sister hasn't got the exact specs of the minivan in question but she did say it was a production from the late 1990s. I'm sending you reference pictures. There was also a faded soccer ball picture on the back and according to her, the fuel rods of the escape pod were coopted to power the thing. You know about Irken escape pods?" Lord Nar laughed. "What's so funny?"

"Most if not all of Irk's military technology was designed by my people Dib. Of course I know." Lord Nar smiled. "We will have that old minivan delivered to you in no time."

"Thanks." Dib said as he ended the call and lay back on the bed. "One chapter ends, another begins…."

So how was that? Good? Bad? Short? Long? Let me know in a review. Revelation time on what bringing down the Massive means for Earth and their place in the Universal stage. And of course Dib is having a midlife crisis about what he did. Because it is impressive, defeating an alien race all by yourself. Anyway, I don't have much else to say here so remember to read (well you just did) and to review! Ciao for now,

Otherrealmwriter

Aka

Realm.


	15. Chapter 15

I do not own Invader Zim okay? I haven’t gotten to updating this like I have some of my other fics but between this and Journey to a New World, they’ve become like my pet IZ fics. But enough of this A/N, on with the fic!

Purple looked out the window as the desert landscape passed by them at an incredible speed. The nuclear power that Zim had adapted the run down old car to run off increased the speed and actually provided a smoother ride than he had expected with something like this. They were going over rough and rocky terrain. Amazingly Red hadn’t been moved around too much as Zim took the vehicle over the desert, jumping over rocks and looking around making sure no one saw them. He turned to Purple and sighed. “Okay, hit that ‘recalculate’ button on the maps, I want to know how close we are to the Bonneville Salt flats.”

“The what?” Purple asked.

“Bonneville Salt Flats. There is nearly no friction on there and humans use that area to race cars and break speed records. It isn’t too far from the Nevada desert we are running around in and near that major interstate I told you about.” Zim said. 

“Are you sure there’s no humans there if they have a use they seem to like?” Red moaned from the back.

“Most of the time no. It’s marked for conservation. There’s only one week a year called Speed Week where we run into a problem.” Zim motioned.

“And when is that?” Purple asked.

“Sometime at the end of August I think. I don’t remember it all. I just learned this from an old Utah Visitor’s Guide I was left to read.” Zim said.

Miyuki I hope you’re right.....Purple said as he looked down at the phone and noticed a date on it. August 11th....He read as he laid back and looked at the map. “So we are heading northeast judging by the compass on this thing.”

“And here’s an analog one,” Zim said as a plastic compass rolled to his feet. He looked at the arrow and where it was pointing. “I can confirm you are correct.” 

“Where did you learn that?” Red moaned out.

“Another book I was left was a cub scout manual.” Zim said. “I swear I don’t know where Dib got the information he did give me, I swear he thought I was going to be bored to death but he’s just handed me the best information I could ever hope for. I am an Invader after all. You learn the enemy’s weakness and how to survive. It’s easy when the enemy hands it all to you thinking he’s just boring you to death.”

“Sounds like that Dib has an ego issue.” Purple noted.

“Indeed.” Zim sighed as he heard a voice over the phone, “You have now crossed into the state of Utah. Please observe local ordinances.”

Dib meanwhile was still in the hospital bay of the base watching the television as the local news came on. It was always the usual but with there being nothing else to watch, he sighed and laid back. This time of year was also monsoon season in the Mojave desert, so while the area didn’t get a lot of rain, when they did, it was most all they would for the year came at once. Storms that dumped a few inches of rain that would cause a wet soaking and puddles back where he grew up, would cause flash floods here that could wipe away cars. Maybe just maybe they’ll get caught up in one of those clusterfucks. God knows that would be justice. Tallest break out Zim, flee the scene and because they are weak against water get burned and drown to death. Throw a rattlesnake on me will you? Dib thought as the news played. 

“And in a viewer video submitted to us, this 97 Pontiac Voyager has been seen nearly floating over the sand, seemingly breaking speed records and heading north east. Is it heading to Speed Week to make a big reveal? Is this a hoax video? We’ll let you decide. Kent Youbetcha with Channel 8 KLAS signing off. Good evening and we’ll see you again at 11pm.”

“You have got to be shitting me!” Dib said as he called Gaz.

“What? I saw the news report too. I’m directing my crew to Utah as we speak. Looks like they may be heading for Devil’s Tower. Now goodbye.” Gaz said hanging up before Dib could say a word. He then pressed the communication button and called Lord Nar.

“Ah yes, Dib what do I owe the pleasure.” Lord Nar said.

“Look towards where Utah is on the map. A video that someone captured and sent to the local news station showed the van I had mentioned going to the northeast if they mentioned Speed Week. Looks like they may use those salt flats in Utah to get a speed boost.”

“Like they’ll notice it. I have finally locked on to the trail of the old power core that the escape pod had. But pray tell Dib, what is this Speed Week you mentioned?” Lord Nar replied. “I should need to know if there will be a lot of humans there and if they will think me a band member like that disgruntled waitress in the diner did.”

“It’s a racing spot where humans race cars and try to break land speed records. The terrain is what really helps.” 

“Duly noted. Have you informed your sister?” he asked.

“She had the intuition as soon as she saw the report herself.” Dib explained.

“Smart human girl.” Lord Nar said. “Maybe smarter than you.”

“HEY!” Dib yelled.

“Is she in sick bay with a rattlesnake bite on her ass?” Lord Nar taunted.

“Not fair.” Dib sighed. 

“Humans know aliens exist now. Between Gaz’s people and us, we will have you your escapees and bring them back. Now rest. You’ll need it when they are back in your care.” Lord Nar said as he turned to the Resisty. “Navigation, head over these coordinates. It is a location on Earth where the wanted Irkens Tallests Red and Purple and Zim are believed to be heading to.”

“Yes sir!” The navigation commander said. “What we will do then?” 

“Activate the cloud disguise as we will need to enter Earth’s atmosphere and once this as it is called, ‘97 Plymouth Voyager’ as it was reported on the Earth News Broadcast that Dib had just watched is seen, activate the freeze ray, keep them in suspension and bring them back to Dib. He will have no choice but to assist us then.”

“Are you sure that’s fair?” Shloonktapooxis asked as they began the decent towards Earth and hovered over a crowd of humans who looked like they were getting ready for a race disguised as the only cloud in a desert landscape. 

“Was it fair when Irk took our planets Shloonktapooxis?” Lord Nar asked. The cone shaped alien shook as if to say ‘no’ “Time to play dirty. Dib will be needed if we are to use him to free our worlds. We have to find a way to our freedom before our Irken masters are replaced by Meekrob masters. 

Purple looked out the window again to see what he was concerned about, that Speed Week was indeed this week and humans would see them. He did not know that humans had already seen them and did not register what their car was and who was in it, but if the word had gotten to Dib and Gaz and their team, they were sure to be done for. “Uhhhh Zim!” Purple said.

“What?” Zim said as he noticed the humans and their cars. “Oh fuck me up the ass!” Zim yelled. “Well let’s keep going. We can’t do anything!” He sighed as he noticed the cameras and flashes of light focus on them. An old beat up minivan going as fast as it was was certain to be something they talked about. “The sooner we are out of there the better!” Zim said as he pushed the pedal to the floor to find the car frozen and slowly floating up.”

“What the hell is going on?” Red said, having noticed the velocity of the car stop as he fell off the seat and onto the floor. 

“I don’t know!” Zim said as he saw the crowd of people under him turn their cameras to him and film what they thought was a cloud that had stopped this old minivan that was breaking speed records thought impossible by even their cars. It was floating in a blueish glow and heading southwest. 

“We got them!” Lord Nar said as he turned to the Navigation team. “Now, to Area 51 where Dib is at. I have a call to make.”

Dib rolled over, trying to get to sleep when his communicator watch that the Resisty had given him rung. “What the hell?” He moaned.

“Call your sister and summon her back to your base. We got those Irken scum and bringing them to you. Get ready!” Lord Nar said proudly.

“Already?” Dib asked.

“Already. You do not give us enough credit Dib. We are a superior alien race and my people did design a lot of Irk’s military technology. I know what I am doing. What may be roughly 500 of your human miles is nothing. I mean nothing to us. Our neighbors are lightyears away.” Lord Nar reminded. “You may be moving humanity onto the Universal stage so it is time to readjust your perceptions of distance.”

“Yeah, maybe.” Dib sighed as he called Gaz. “Gaz,”

“What?” She moaned. “I’m kind of rushing my team to the most boring state in the union here....”

“Head back.” Dib said simply.

“WHAT THE FUCK? ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME AND INSANE?” Gaz yelled into the phone, causing Dib to wince.

“Keep an eye out for a cloud that has the van floating in a ray on your way back. The Resisty got them.” Dib said, ready for Gaz’s next outburst. 

“Are you sure?” She asked as she looked up. “Well I’ll be damned.”

“Most the population of Utah would have said the same to you too.” Dib smirked. “Follow that cloud as it will bring us our captives.”

“I will do that.” Gaz said as she issued the same order to her team and they began the drive back through the desert, back to the base following a pillar of cloud, a disguised alien spaceship, floating an old minivan with their wanted Irkens in it. 

Dib smiled to himself and imagined the sight. It’s almost like the old Bible story of the Exodus in a way. He had studied all the tales of major religions and folk tales under the assumption that they were just old sightings of the paranormal that couldn’t be explained at the time the religion’s text was composed. He sat up and smiled. Soon his prisoners would be back and he would make them pay.

So how was that? Good? Bad? Short? Long? Let me know in a review. I know this chapter is shorter than some of the others I have here but not every chapter is going to be a long one. So remember to read (well you just did) and to review. Ciao for now,

otherrealmwriter

aka

Realm.


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